| ID: | 88836 |
|---|---|
| Country: | Ethiopia |
| Title: | Ethiopia - South–South and Triangular Cooperation/ Inter–Africa Bamboo Smallholder Farmers Livelihood Development Programme – September 2024 |
| Description: |
Kidist is the founder and owner of Bamboo Paradise, a small company producing bamboo items such as baskets, flowerpots or even furniture. She founded her business in Ethiopia’s capital city Addis Abeba in 2008 but has been in the bamboo sector for 26 years. ‘As long as there is a bamboo, there is nothing we lack in the house’, she says. She was able to grow her business thanks to different bamboo training programs organized by the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (INBAR), under the South–South and Triangular Cooperation for the Inter–Africa Bamboo Smallholder Farmers Livelihood Development Programme in Ethiopia. For example, in 2018, she travelled to China for two months to acquire new skills and techniques: ‘One of the things I learned in China was not to use nails. We were hammering the bamboo with a nail that used to crack the bamboos. There, I saw they were using shoot gun or shooter machine. I brought back four of these machines that I could accommodate in my luggage’, she remembers of the training. The programme also supported her by providing tools such as a sewing machine that can sew through thick items like bamboo. She was also trained on digital marketing and she sells her products on social media. Kidist now employs 3 permanent workers. Her business is regularly increasing and she has improved her livelihood. She is constructing her own house and managing her 3 children. Kidist is always keen to share her experience with others, especially women: ‘They wonder “Did you really transform your life with a bamboo business?” I tell them “Yes, I changed my life with bamboo.” So I talk about my experience and motivate them’, she tells about the training she provides. ‘Nowadays women don’t have to expect everything from their husbands. We can manage our houses when we are financially independent.’ |
| Size: | 7.01 MB; 6521 x 4348 pixels; 552 x 368 mm (print at 300 DPI); 1725 x 1150 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Show more details: | Robel Fikru Atomsa |
| Copyright: | ©IFAD/Robel Fikru Atomsa |
| Categories: | New from East and Southern Africa |
| URL: | www.ifad.org |
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