Lenda Lera, a 35 year old father of six, is preparing his land. He plans to leave for Arba Minch after he finishes sowing maize and sweet potato. Lenda hopes to find work there as a daily labourer on one of the state farms that grow cotton. While his wife and children look after the fields, he will earn some money to buy food until the next harvest.

With 0.25 hectares of land where he grows maize and sweet potato, five enset trees (false banana), and a few chickens, Lenda Lera is considered a poor farmer in his community. He is one of many. For almost 60% of the people in his area, food crops only cover half of their annual food needs. The main source of cash income is casual labour.

In a normal year, Lenda goes to Arba Minch to look for work in September, but last year he had to go early—in July. The belg rains were late, he had a poor sweet potato harvest, and he needed money. A lack of rain is the single most important cause of food insecurity in his area. Sweet potato butterfly, army worm and maize stalk borer also pose a threat to his food crop harvest. Not only do they affect his own crop, they also result in an increase in staple food prices throughout the area.

Like all of the other poor and very poor people in his area, Lenda’s family depends on food aid during the hunger season (February to June). This year he worked on a productive safety nets programme—building roads, terracing and re-foresting. The timing of the work was not perfect; he had to combine it with the preparation of his land.

But as far as crops go, this year has been quite a good one. The belg rains came on time, army worm did not attack his maize, and Lenda found a job for his twelve year old son: looking after the two cows of a better-off neighbour in return for a portion of their milk.

Lenda’s hope is that his four sons and two daughters will have a better life with greater opportunities than he does. “My mother died when I was 14 and my father when I was 18. As the oldest son, I had to take care of the farm and my younger siblings. I quit school, while my two younger brothers finished their education. Now they live in Addis Ababa, where they are traders in household goods. I want my children to finish their education. I didn’t have the chance to do that myself.”