"I'm no longer a beggar" - World Food Day 2007

The theme of this year’s United Nations World Food Day, celebrated on October 16, is “The Right to Food” and the day aims to highlight the important role of human rights in eradicating hunger and poverty.

Agaro Amelo lives in the Shebedino District of Ethiopia with his wife and three children. The family owns a quarter of a hectare of land, which supports enough enset (false banana), maize and spinach to sustain the family for about four months a year.

He was orphaned at an early age and has a disability which restricts the use of his legs. These disadvantages have meant that he has always struggled to provide a living for himself and his family.

Agaro remembers, “When my first daughter was born there was no food at home to provide for my wife. I could not stand seeing her distressed and hungry, and decided to go to Leku town.

“I started begging there, and with the money I bought maize flour and sent it home to her. I continued doing this until the harvest season.”

Plan undertook a participatory household poverty study and encouraged Agaro to purchase a donkey cart through a co-operative fund. He and his brother transport farm produce and goods to and from Leku town and fetch water from springs to households.

They both make 1-2 USD per day for 3-4 days work a week. With the money he pays back his loan and saves about 2 USD per month. He is now planning to sell his chicken and goats and buy a heifer.

He says: “I am no longer a beggar. I am in a better position in feeding my family. I have improved my house and my daughter is attending her education properly.

“If I am short of money I can easily borrow from anyone in the community because I own assets. I am very grateful to Plan, who helped me change my family life for a better one.”

His eldest daughter Abebech says, “I often complained and refused to go to school because I did not have proper clothes and shoes. Now, my family is in a better position. I do not have an inferiority complex, I have good clothes and shoes and above all I am equal to my school mates.”