Ethiopia

Meet Luku

Farming is the primary way to make a living in the Abaya district of Eastern Ethiopia. It’s always been a challenge for crop production to support the entire community, but in recent years, unpredictable weather and changing rainfall patterns have led to extreme drought and food shortage.

Luku Elema, a 36-year-old mother of seven, knows this all too well. For the last several years, her harvest of coffee and grain has only produced enough for her family to sustain themselves for part of the year. They have gone two months or more with hardly anything to eat.
The Lutheran World Federation, supported by your gifts to ELCA World Hunger, is working to make a difference.

In July 2010, Luku received a gift of three goats. The goats are hardy, surviving in even the driest, hottest climates — all the while providing Luku and her children with fresh, nutritious milk to drink and sell in the market. She uses the manure from the goats to fertilize her fields, and help grow a larger harvest than ever before.

Within five months, the three goats had already multiplied into seven. "When there is a lack of food, I can sell a goat," she says. With enough income to sustain her family, even in times of drought, she is one step closer to breaking the cycle of poverty for good.  Your gifts to ELCA World Hunger support this program and others like it in more than 60 countries around the world.

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