The Kebele of Addis Alem is situated in the ‘semi-highlands’ of Amhara Region, in Kalu Woreda, South Wollo. The entire Kebele is made up out of thirteen villages and hamlets and measures a total of 1468 hectares, all nestled on the hills that rise up from the Woreda capital Harbu.

The area around Harbu was one of the hardest hit by the droughts that led up to the 1984 famine. Most communities in this area suffered a lot in that period, many lost children, relatives and assets. For most this was the beginning of a poverty cycle out of which they have not been able to escape.

Kalu Woreda has not been able to feed it’s population for the past ten years. Woreda sources blame erratic rainfall, the topography, which is steep and unsuitable for agriculture plus regular pest outbreaks for the food insecurity. Over half the population needs regular food aid to survive. Even in the villages of Addis Alem, lying conveniently close to Harbu and the main road, this is the case. Years of meagre harvests, due to the erratic rainfall, pests or both, have pushed much of the population to the brink of destitution.

Addis Alem’s population grew 6% between 1993 and 2000 to 4,050 people. Food production has been unable to keep up. Its total arable land, counted as 695 hectares in 1998, is decreasing rather than increasing due to erosion, over-cultivation and land exhaustion. 

While the concerned bodies (DPPC, WFP, NGOs) have been providing food aid every year to avoid a repeat of the 1984 famine, the aid has done only the bare minimum; it has kept people alive. It has not been able to prevent the ongoing erosion of productive assets in the communities. Mechanisms, designed to help families ‘cope’ in a crisis situation have become a way of life from which families rarely depart. Village level dynamics, based on the natural and age-old distribution of wealth have become askew despite and because of food aid.

A close-up look at the village of Gindrkore, part of Addis Alem Kebele shows the day-to-day struggle of a subsistence farming community, typical of so many of the 63 million Ethiopians, 80% of whom live in the countryside and depend on farming for their daily bread.