Illu Gelan

Since 2020, Menschen für Menschen has been implementing an integrated rural development project in the Illu Gelan woreda (district) based on a principle that has been tried and tested for over 40 years. Illu Gelan is located 200 kilometres west of Addis Ababa in the West Shoa Zone of the regional state of Oromia.

In the district, which covers more than 423 square kilometres and has 18 communities, around 86,000 people live mainly from agriculture and livestock farming. During the two rainy seasons, the shorter one from mid-March to the end of April and the longer one from June to September, around 900 mm of rain falls each year. The main town in the district is Ijaji.

Project start: 2020
Area: 423 km²
Population: approx. 86,000
Location: around 200 kilometres west of Addis Ababa

The soil in Illu Gelan has been severely eroded and depleted by deforestation and overgrazing. The farmers need wood for their households, but have no reforestation programme. The animals graze on open land and in many places take away the last protection from the soil. The result is leaching and erosion ditches. Farmers also use outdated equipment and outdated techniques to work the fields.

Only 21 per cent of the population has access to clean drinking water, resulting in stomach and intestinal diseases. As is common in Ethiopia, women and girls are responsible for collecting wood and water, which keeps them busy for a large part of the day. Girls are therefore often unable to attend school.

The 33 schools in the project area are made of wood and mud and are in very poor condition. There are hardly any school books.

The most common diseases in the district are respiratory diseases, pneumonia, arthritis and diarrhea. Treatment options in the existing poorly equipped medical facilities in Illu Gelan are limited.

Women participate in economic and social life, but are traditionally disadvantaged. They bear the main burden in the household, help with field work, but have little say in decision-making and are unable to generate their own income due to a lack of capital.