Project area Wogdi
General information
Menschen für Menschen has been implementing an integrated rural development project in Wogdi since 2013. Wogdi is located around 580 kilometres north-east of Addis Ababa in the South Wollo Zone in the regional state of Amhara. Around 96 per cent of the 150,000 inhabitants live in rural areas at an altitude of between 1,100 and 2,850 metres.
- Project start: 2013
- Population: approx. 150,000
- Location: 580 kilometres north-east of Addis Ababa
Initial situation before the start of the project
Heavy deforestation and overgrazing have severely depleted the soil in Wogdi. Deep gullies have formed as a result of erosion. Cultivable land is scarce and crop yields are low. In addition, the farmers use outdated techniques and equipment.
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. The girls are therefore often unable to attend school. Most of the school buildings in the project area are in very poor condition, and in some places lessons have to be held outdoors under trees.
More than half of the population has no access to clean drinking water, resulting in stomach and intestinal diseases. The poverty-related disease trachoma, an infection of the eyelids, is widespread, as are goitre and malaria. Due to the poor medical infrastructure, people can hardly receive any treatment. The farming families live in unhealthy conditions, some of them still under one roof with their animals, and most of them do not have their own room for cooking or sleeping. There is also a lack of measures for effective family planning.
