Vocational and Enterprise Training Institute, Odo Shakiso, Ethiopia, Africa
Creating environmentally sustainable livelihoods for rural people living in poverty

The Project

The Girija Integrated Rural Development Association (GIRDA) have been planning the development of a Vocational and Enterprise Training Institute to support young people in Odo Shakiso.

Girda have been working with Action for Health, Education and Development (AHEAD), which is based in the UK, and with EDW and British Consultancy Ltd (BCL). 106,400 sq metres of land has been provided for the project and a pledge has been received from the Regional and Gujii Zonal Governments to pay for key salaries once the Institute is built and operational.

The Odo Shakiso District has a population of 125,598, 62% of whom are involved in farming, although cultivating only 56.5% of the cultivatable land. The District is within the Girija region, and is a priority area for GIRDA, who have a particular objective to create job opportunities for young people, with a special focus on women, and to carry out all-round development activities in pastoral and agro-pastoral areas to improve their livelihood.

Background

Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa, with about 77 million people. Over 60 million (81%) live below a poverty line of $2 a day, while 31 million (41%) live on less than half a dollar a day. Each year, about 10 million people are at risk of starvation.

The average annual income is $141 per person, average life expectancy is 54 years, and for every 1,000 children born alive, 123 die before the age of 5. Only 52% of the population has access to safe, clean water.

Community Consultation

In May 2005, AHEAD conducted community consultation on the health, education and development needs of people living in the Gujii Zone. Community members, leaders, government officials and professionals highlighted the need for access to appropriate learning opportunities, health promotion and development initiatives.

The community consultation exercise also indicated that an integrated approach which addresses health, education and development needs will be more sustainable and effective than implementing an initiative based on only one sector.

The stakeholders - community members and leaders - also voiced the need to focus on young people who leave secondary education without a qualification, in order to help them acquire vocational and business skills which will lead them to take up employment or self-employment, or to progress to further learning opportunities.

Meeting the Need

The Institute will, with the support of AHEAD, EDW and BCL, address these issues, and the under-utilisation and mismanagement of the natural, environmental and agricultural resources in Odo Shakiso, through the provision of environmental and other practical vocational core skills training.