Busu Gelato, Abay Denebe village, Adamu Tulu district near Ziway, Ethiopia

Busu and her family live near Lake Ziway in the heart of the Rift Valley, four hours’ drive south of Addis Ababa . Busu has a 400 square metre plot of land and, before hearing about IDE, she grew beans once a year after the rainy season, generally earning a maximum of 600 Birr (£33) from selling any surplus her family did not need to eat. Often, when the rains failed, Busu would be forced to sell her family’s assets to buy grain for food – for example, they had to sell their valuable oxen two years ago during a drought.

Eight months ago, Busu bought a treadle pump for 705 Birr (£40) from a local manufacturer IDE had introduced to the area. The IDE team also advised her on what kinds of vegetables to grow and how and where to market them.

Already Busu has grown two cycles of vegetables on her irrigated land. The first cycle, she grew tomatoes and onions which gave her an income of 2400 Birr (£133) and for her second cycle she also grew chilli pepper and earned an income of 3640 Birr (£202).

When asked what she planned to do with her new income – Busu demonstrated her entrepreneurial drive: she has already purchased two donkeys and a cart which she rents out at 100 Birr (£5.50) a day to local villagers on the two market days each week, potentially giving her a further £500 income a year.

Busu has four children of school age and they are now all going to school as a result of the family’s increased income.