Alumnus Works to Protect Ethiopians from Drought, Starvation

October 13, 2009
by Lindsay Hodges Anderson

A Harvard Kennedy School alumnus is helping farmers in Ethiopia insure themselves against crop loss and starvation. Abera Tola MPA 1999 is Oxfam America’s regional director for Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia – an appropriate position for the native Ethiopian who has first-hand experience with many of the severe challenges facing people in that region.

The Boston Globe recently profiled Tola’s project which allows – for the first time – approximately 200 Ethiopian farming households to purchase drought insurance to protect themselves from loss in case of failed crops, akin to the system that protects American farmers. Drought has ravaged Ethiopia in past decades and hunger remains a serious problem in the region. Tola’s work through Oxfam America seeks to update farming methods, specifically by implementing more advanced irrigation projects.

“This is the only way out,’’ Tola told The Boston Globe. “This is why we are focusing on it, to challenge poverty and drought directly - so it cannot come and hit us again a few years from now.’’

Tola was a 20-year-old management student in Ethiopia when he was jailed without charge. He remained jailed for 11 years and was not released until 1990. In that time, widespread deadly famine hit the region affecting hundreds of thousands of people – including prisoners who relied on families to bring them food.

Following his release, Tola worked in human rights organizations, earned his Master’s in Public Administration at Harvard Kennedy School and later joined Oxfam America.

To read more about Tola’s Oxfam America project, visit The Boston Globe.

Print print | Email email
Ethiopian farmers

Until now, farmers in Ethiopia have had no insurance against crop loss due to drought. Photo stock.xchng.