Another agriculture is possible.

• Author: Li Ching, Lim
• Position: Biodevastation

Not far from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the farming community of Ejere has participated in a project with the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and Research (IBCR), to reclaim their own varieties of local wheat, teff (an Ethiopian staple cereal) and barley. This project is particularly significant, given that in the 1970s local varieties were increasingly displaced by so-called modern high-yielding varieties (HYVs), including bread wheat, which farmers did not normally grow. The "high-yielding" varieties, however, actually resulted in lower yields and other problems.

Fortunately, before the HYVs totally replaced farmers' varieties, the IBCR (then called the Plant Genetic Resources Centre of Ethiopia, or "PGRC/E") had made collections of the farmers' varieties from the area. In the 1980s, a senior durum wheat plant breeder found out about the farmers' problems with the HYVs and decided with Dr. Melaku Worede, Ethiopian conservationist and plant geneticist, to help the farmers reclaim their own varieties from the PGRC/E.

Samples were obtained of all the local durum wheat and teff varieties, and an area to grow them with the farmers was negotiated with the local school. This helped to multiply the seed, and also involved the farmers in selecting the varieties they wanted to bring back to their fields. The farmers also developed their own farmers' elite varieties.

As IBCR staff Tekalgne Abebe explained, the objective of this in-situ crop conservation project is to ensure a sustainable supply of seed and to minimize the dependency of farmers on high cost inputs like fertilizers and "improved" varieties. The Ejere project is also linked to other in-situ conservation sites nationally and complimented by ex-situ conservation of crop seed samples kept in cold storage.

It has been such a success that most of the farmers of the area are growing their own varieties with little fertilizer. For example, the farmers have selected and developed 26 varieties of durum wheat, which is indigenous to Ethiopia. These varieties have been selected based on farmers' knowledge and innovation, and based on criteria they consider important, such as color, yield and resistance.

It is evident from the kaleidoscope of colors in the area that the conservation and use of farmers' varieties has had a positive impact. More pulses are grown, their dark green patches interspersed among the golden ones of teff and wheat. The reason why the community can afford to...