Local Community Benefiting from OFLP Livelihood Support
14 November 2021, Bore Woreda
Ato Dembi Wako is the chairman of Buche who was born and raised in the village where the cooperative is located. He knows the history and features of the land his cooperative has now successfully reforested, and has seen how the area has tremendously changed over the last couple of years.
‘‘Few decades ago, this area was known in local language as ‘Lafa Dammaa’ which means ‘Land of Honey’. This is because the area had been covered with dense forest and the surrounding people used to harvest ample honey from the forest. Also, there had been various types of wild lives such as: colobus monkeys, monkeys and wild pigs. Gradually, however, the trees were cut and the forest converted to an open grazing land; as a result, all the wild lives have disappeared’’ said Ato Dembi.
Ato Dembi said that the reforestation activities have considerably improved the environment, biodiversity and the community; in fact, some wild animals are returning to the area. He added that he and all the CBO members are so glad to see the area recovered after two years of hard work and that their cooperative is among the CBOs selected to get livelihood support.
Eyasu Mekuria is a 24 years old youth member of the coop. He is married and makes his living as a farmer ploughing a small parcel of land entitled to his father as he has no plot of his own. In 2019, Eyasu joined Buche and has been an active member since then.