Land, Water and Livelihoods: The Watershed Movement in Tigray

20 years ago, Tigray was one of the most water-stressed, food-insecure and impoverished regions in Ethiopia. Around that time, the regional and federal governments decided that the way out of the situation was to pursue watershed-based ecological restoration.

The strategy seems to be working: soil quality has improved, water availability has increased, vegetative cover has grown several-fold, production of food is higher and productivity of farmland has been enhanced. The obvious knock-on effect has been a substantial decrease in poverty and improved nutrition.

The Tigray story could have lessons for all of us. This video is a preliminary look at what is widely called Tigray's "Watershed Movement." We would do well to look at the phenomenon more closely, for lessons relevant to our contexts.