An Ecofarm project is undertaken by Awassa University, REST, and Amhara Agricultural Research Institute in sorghum and maize-producing areas in East Shoa, Tigray, and North Gonder respectively. The objective of the Ecofarm project is to contribute to build competence on dryland farming in order to improve food security for dryland farmers in Ethiopia, increase their income, increase biodiversity and preserve the natural resource base. The Ecofarm approach has a component related to land-use planning at the community level. Another component relates to testing agricultural technologies such as conservation tillage, micro-fertilisation, seed priming, introducing striga-resistant sorghum varieties, Moringa Oleifera trees and animal fodder banks (Gliricidia), early harvest of grain, stall feeding and urea treatment of straw among others, and promoting vegetable and fruit production. In each site, the project works with three villages and four pilot farmers are selected in each village in consultation with the village communities to use a combination of technologies from the crop, livestock and horticultural sectors. Female-headed households are also included in the study.

The Ecofarm project in Ethiopia entered its second phase in 2007 with activities such as intercropping, maize, sorghum and haricot bean priming, sowing date for sorghum varieties, stalk borer control in maize, crop harvesting at physiological maturity, improved fallows, use of pyrethrum for treating storage pests and finger millet and maize varieties adaptation trials in addition to those that were implemented in 2006. The Ecofarm approach is also applied and studied in Mali and in Sudan. For more information on this approach, please visit this page.

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