Self Help Africa is implementing three rural development programmes in Eritrea - at Gogne and Elabared in the west, and at Emni Haili in the south of the country.
The organisation is also involved in supporting a national beekeeping development programme, and a water development project at Kimira in the remote south-east.
Self Help Africa began it's work in Eritrea with a pilot potato project involving Irish seed potatoes and maize. Started in 1994, this venture ran for three years, before the country's first five year area based development project was initiated at Mendefera, in the south, in 1997. |
Eritrea is a small country in the Horn of Africa extending along the Red Sea between Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti. It gained its independence from Ethiopia after a war that lasted over 30 years, and left the country devastated.
Low rainfall in many parts of the country makes water provision - for both drinking and irrigation purposes, one of the biggest development challenges. Approx 30 per cent of the population are estimated to be pastoralists - travelling from place to place in search of water.
Economy: A predominant agrarian society, Eritrea depends heavily on agriculture, which is often affected by drought. Coffee is a key export, and vulnerable to international price fluctuations. Communities and families are supported economically by the many Eritrean expatriates who have made their homes in Europe, Canada, and the United States.
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