Inspiring stories of change from Ethiopia

Gebru Dereje, from Gumer District in SNNPR State gave up city life to move back to his place of birth (Zizencho Kebele) and became a farmer.

At the age of 67, he says he is happy to dedicate time to watch a video being screened for his local farming community despite a busy schedule.

We don’t mind giving this time, regardless of how busy we are with our chores because an hour is nothing compared to the time we had to dedicate to learn something earlier [before Digital Green’s video-enabled learning approach was introduced], shares Mr. Gebru.

Walking all the way to the Farmer Training Center (FTC) to peer at the action taking place on the demonstration plot over the shoulders of many who have arrived before me was almost pointless, but I went anyway because I was eager to learn ways to increase my farm’s productivity.He no longer has the energy he had when he was young to make the trip to the FTC.

Till date, we have reached more than 640,000 individuals across India and Sub-Saharan Africa in over 7,000 villages producing over 3,500 localized videos in 20 languages.

Heres a compilation of stories of some of the many lives we have touched over our journey. These stories have been made possible through the collective efforts of Digital Green staff and our partners, and most importantly, the communities with whom we engage.

Read on for more such inspiring testimonials and stories

Voices From the Field (Ethiopia) February 2015