Success Story: CRS F2F Ethiopia. Farmer to Farmer financial training helps women in rural Ethiopia improve their financial and social standing: The case of redacted name and redacted name

The cooperative initially had almost 200 members and focused on providing trainings and credit services to vulnerable women. The USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer Program (F2F) provided support to the cooperative, including financial literacy, vegetable production, and other income-generating activities. In 2019, a CRS staff member and Ethiopian American traveled from the US as a F2F volunteer to deliver training to the cooperative's members. The training focused on credit and savings, and small business management, teaching the women to identify entrepreneurship activities, set goals, and develop action plans. Following the training, the cooperative's members began providing business opportunities to each other, with options to select either a loan of $100 to start a business or a ewe to start sheep husbandry. After receiving trainings from the F2F program and support from the cooperative, two members, lllllllt and lllllllt, started sheep farming and poultry production. They also began buying and reselling vegetables and grains in their village market at a small profit. Three years after the trainings, they were able to meet their basic household needs and had expanded their businesses. lllllllt had managed to purchase a horse cart to provide transport services, opened a village kiosk, and established a small garage, while lllllllt had started selling eggs and had recently purchased a milking cow to bolster nutrition and income. The cooperative's members have also built houses and begun to furnish them. They have established a village shop to sell inexpensive household goods and have started saving money in a bank. The women have also begun to support each other, with lllllllt returning the initial loan and transferring it to another member to repeat the process. The cooperative's members have become active community members, and their children play confidently with others at school. Their achievements are notable against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when many households have lost their economic footing. The success of the cooperative is attributed to the F2F program's support and the women's determination to improve their financial and social status. The program has provided them with the skills and resources necessary to create viable and diverse business opportunities, ensuring their households are food secure and socially included. The cooperative's members have become role models for other women in the community, demonstrating the importance of savings and credit for the growth of their business activities and inspiring others to follow in their footsteps.