Photo: Mekelle UniversityPhoto: Mekelle University

UMB contributes to increased crops in Ethiopia

16.12.2009 // A partnership between Norwegian researchers and Ethiopian farmers have resulted in increased crops for Ethiopian farmers. The project «Seed Safety through Diversity» (SSD) is funded by The Norwegian Programme for Development, Research and Higher Education (NUFU) and is a cooperation between the Norwegian University of Life Science (UMB) and Mekelle University in Ethiopia. SSD Coordinator Dr. Fetien Abay from Mekelle University has been awarded for the project.

The MU-NUFU project, led by Coordinator Dr. Fetien Abay, was awarded at the 2008 African wide Women & Young Professionals in Sciences Competition in April 2009. Dr. Abay wrote her PhD at UMB in 2007, researching the environmental interplay of different types of barley. This price, won on the background of the work with the NUFU-project, also received attention on national television in Ethiopia.

– This project is a blessing from God. Never before in my life have I experienced that university people had any interest in how a poor man like me lives, nor in improving my life, says Gebregiorgis, a 68-year old farmer from the Habes village in the Tigray-region of Northern-Ethiopia.

His crop, and many others, have increased after a research project was initiated with the aim to improve the barley in northern Ethiopia. It all began at UMB.

Read the full article from UMB's webpage here.


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