This mother of seven acquired her agronomical skills in a training that focused on weather-resilient agricultural practices and livelihood diversification. After the training, Oribula shared her new skills with her family members. “I grow barley and beans. I was not aware of vegetable production until I was trained at the FTC,” she states. After the training, she has diversified into maize and vegetables. She received onion and bean seeds from the Konso Development Association through a grant supported by ForAfrika.

During the first planting season in 2025, Oribula had two beds of onions, which she transplanted to five beds at her home garden. She harvested 100 kilogrammes of onions.  She sold 50 kilos for 4,000 birr (USD 25) and stored the other 50 kilogrammes for home consumption. She used the 2,000 birr (USD 12.87) to buy exercise books for her children and the rest was spent on her family’s Easter celebration. 

Before diversifying, she did not grow elephant grass, which is essential for soil conservation, because she only knew it as livestock feed. She used to grow slow-maturing varieties of crops.  After receiving training in weather-resilient agriculture, she now grows fast- maturing varieties . Because farmland is limited, farmers have been trained to maximise small plots for higher yields.