Negash Regasa, aged 30, is the leader of the youth group. A diploma holder in Animal Production and a father of five children, he has inspired the youth to regenerate their ecosystem to great benefit. “As a group, we have been trained in soil and water conservation by the Department of Agriculture. We applied the skills we acquired during the training to rehabilitate the watershed. We are grateful to the KDA and ForAfrika for giving incentives to the youth, including provision of food while the youth worked on the site,” Ragasa says.

The Konso Development Association operates four nurseries supported by ForAfrika. The trees planted at the watershed were sourced from Gocha Kebele, one of the four nurseries. The nursery is teeming with fruit trees including avocado, orange, papaya and guava, which are provided free of charge along with cypress seedlings. Agriculture officers identify farmers who are willing to plant the trees and supply them with the seedlings.

Gizachewu Gilana, 38, is the nursery manager. A father of three children and a person living with disability, he left school in grade 10 but now leads a team of three men and two women at the nursery. Gilana has been working at the nursery for 10 years. “I have a disability, therefore this is an ideal job for me. My salary is 1,800 birr (USD11) per month,” he states. His work entails coordinating nursery activities, supervising workers, collaborating with stakeholders and mixing soil with manure.

He has a small piece of land measuring approximately 0.25 hectares on which he grows coffee, avocado, mango, cypress, moringa and other trees. He sources seedlings from his workplace.