Entering Ethiopia: A New Partnership
Ethiopia is a country with vast and diverse landscapes, rich, established cultures, and fascinating history. It houses the source of the longest river in the world, the birthplace of coffee, and one of the oldest Christian denominations, as well as nearly 1.5% of the world's population.
However, almost 44% of the population in modern day Ethiopia lives in poverty.
The Ethiopian population is predominantly rural, with only around 15% living in urban areas. Agriculture is the dominant economic sector, and though it is underutilized, it remains the main source of livelihood for over 80% of the country’s population.
Some time ago, members of the PW network with connections in Ethiopia began noticing gaps and needs in the country that aligned with the mission of PW. Beginning conversations with local leaders, they explored if the PW network would be an asset to the efforts already in place. Quite some time was dedicated to conduct a country assessment to understand the social, economic, and political environment, identify specific needs, and explore the existence of potential partners.
After completion of this assessment, and upon recommendation from friends and leaders involved, Ethiopia was officially added to the global Partners Worldwide network in October 2021! The network will support local institutions that share common values with PW and their vision is to empower the people of Ethiopia through training them to improve their business skills and bring local development.
Recently, the team has been focused on immersing the country's new partnership manager, Liya Tadesse, in the mission and vision of PW as she leads the work in Ethiopia with excellence and contextual awareness of needs and potential partners. In the coming quarter, the team will focus on identifying and meeting said potential partners in the areas of finance and agricultural value chains, as well as formulating a guiding strategy for new partnerships going forward!
We thank God for this new partnership and look forward to seeing the fruit of this collaboration in Ethiopia!
