Worancha ወራንቻ

More nutritious crops, bigger yields, more diverse diets: Ethiopian and Canadian researchers are working toward these goals in southern Ethiopia, where drought and poor soil have threatened farmers' livelihoods and led to widespread malnutrition.  Researchers at Hawassa University, Ethiopia, and the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, have turned their attention to these problems. One facet of the team's research focuses on finding crops and techniques capable of coaxing bigger, better harvests from depleted soils in this drought-prone area.  Their work is unfolding under the umbrella of the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF), a joint initiative of IDRC and Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada. With 21 projects in food-insecure regions of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, CIFSRF brings together Canadian and developing-country specialists in search of practical solutions to the interlinked problems of environmental degradation, poor agricult