Holes in the Safety Net
In the densely populated region of SNNPR (Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region) of Ethiopia, food shortages are severe. The decline of the enset plant is fueling the crisis.
 |
| Enset plants at the Areka Research Station, Boloso Sore. By: Jane Beesley/Oxfam |
"Enset provides more amount of foodstuff per unit area than most cereals. It is estimated that 40 to 60 enset plants occupying 250-375 sq. meters can provide enough food for a family of 5 to 6 people."
—Country Information Brief, FAO June 1995
Enset, known as "false banana" due to its striking resemblance to the banana plant, is a traditional staple crop in the densely populated south and southwestern parts of Ethiopia. The root of the plant provides food in the form of starch, the stem is used to produce a coarse fiber, and the leaves are fed to cattle, whose manure fertilizes the crop. Although enset is a protein-poor food plant, its deep roots give it a greater resilience to drought than cereal crops like maize and wheat. Consequently, it has given those who grow it a greater degree of food security.
During the "hungry season" (April to June or June to September, depending on the area, and at times of crop failure) enset provides a safety net until more food becomes available—whether through harvest or food aid.
"We eat one meal a day. When the other food [food aid] is finished, I boil enset for breakfast."
—Gojame Goljo (a lone grandparent looking after her grandson)
"I receive 50 kg of maize per month. It doesn't even last fifteen days. We eat the root of the enset for the other days before receiving another bag of maize."
—Birbo Badassa (member of a family of eighteen)
 |
| Birbo Badassa. By: Jane Beesley/Oxfam |
Compared with other cereals, enset yields are high, so it is a particularly efficient crop for very small landholdings supporting large families. The average landholding in Sidama is 0.25 hectares and less than 0.25 in Boloso Sore, where 30% of the population is landless.
While enset still provides families with some food, enset plantations have suffered serious decline.
"Before, the land was covered with enset. Now it's gone due to the drought, and all the enset has been used. The situation has declined from previous situations because of little or no enset. The yield is also less, and it takes four to five years to harvest."
—Gobaro Badasa (family includes two wives and fifteen children)
"The problem is these uneven rains. The enset yield is decreased, and it is not growing quickly. Even now the yield is not normal."
—Elias Bechere (family includes four children)
"Last year was better. We did not suffer as much, as I had more enset on my land."
—Gojame Goljo
The enset system is delicate and requires a lot of management. An enset plant takes four to five years to mature, and production improves substantially with age: while a one-year-old plant produces only a kg of food, a five-year-old plant can yield 40 kg. The system's success depends on an enset plot sustaining plants at all five stages of development. In far too many cases, however, this cycle has been seriously disrupted. Drought and bacterial wilt have had a serious impact on enset plantations, but the biggest hole in the enset safetey net is the result of people forced by hunger to eat immature plants.
"People normally cope by using enset, but it's been depleted due to the drought. They have been forced to eat it prematurely due to hunger. It's almost finished."
—Tesfaye Tadesse, DPPC (Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Committee), Sidama Region
In the past, enset has helped to offset the major episodes of acute hunger in areas like Boloso Sorie and Sidama, but the damage to the enset system is now having very serious consequences.
Oxfam's Response
Oxfam is working with the Center for Development Initiative (CDI) to distribute enset to the drought-prone areas of Siraro and Shashemere in the Rift Valley. The center is propagating enset seedlings for distribution to farmers; it is also researching high-yield, and insect- and drought-resistant varieties.