Like most rural women, she comes in a small frame. Winner of Female Food Heroes from Amhara region, Birtukan Tegegn was born in 1978 in a small village called Mechare. It is around 35 kilometres from the city Woldya and 600 kilometres from the capital Addis to the north. Just like most women who live in her small village she got married at 14, and gave birth for four children, three boys and a girl. The household was always hand to mouth. Her husband owned a very small land and she hardly remembers a time when there was enough to eat. However, things got worse in the year 2000, when her husband, the sole provider of the house, died. He left behind four small children and aging parents. Since she did not have a brother or any close male family member, her small land was to end up rotten and without a harvest. She received a constant sympathy from everyone around and no one knew how she would get out of her situation.
She lives in a region that is infamous for draught, famine, and lack of rain and water. The area is over populated, which makes land a very scarce commodity. People have to work beyond hard just to put a regular meal on the table. It is a constant struggle to survive. Being a single mother and a widow does not help in this situation. Given the extensive physical labour ploughing by ox requires, women are seen as powerless in that area. Birtukan could have given up easily.
The destiny of her four children seemed obvious for many. They were to migrate to small towns, probably doing nothing and end up on the streets. Her only daughter was to marry early since she will need someone to take care of her. So what makes this women different from millions of Ethiopian women who share the same fate? This is what makes Birtukan a hero – she was determined to fight back. She decided boldly to make her children’s feature a lot different from what the villagers already had in mind. She wanted them to go to school, to achieve dreams unforeseen for those around her.
She took over her husband’s small land. However, just as the villagers would say she could not handle the ox physically on the field. However, for her that was not a good enough reason to stop. It appeared to her that her village is full of men, who do not have their own land and willing to plough for her if she gave up a certain amount of the ‘t to give the land and let them do whatever they wish and accept they produce. She was on the field every single day following every activity and helping. She listened everything the agriculture extension workers told her, and figured a way to be more productive in a very small land. She used her backyard to plant orange, banana, and 200 trees of coffee. These plants are unheard of in her villages.
She knew the nature of her area so she did not let the rain wasted. She dag deep holes, and conserve water. Birtukan smiles a lot, and make people welcome and take care of everyone that come to work for her. That makes the men in her village happy to help around and contribute for her success. Her next move was to look for more land. She deals with people who are unable to plough, because of age or any other situation. She hires labour, take care of the harvest and take one third of the product. Knowing that she is one tough woman to break, life started to turn its face to the fighting widow. She saved enough money to make sure her children attended school, with no interruption. She built a house in the nearby town, Woldya, though she says she could not see herself living in a city. ‘I am a farmer’ she would say ‘I can’t live far from my land and my plants’. In fact, that is what got her much recognition. Birtukan is a winner of Female Food Heroes 2013, an annual competition for women farmers who mange to achieve food security. The competition selects winners from all regions of Ethiopia and set them for a competition at a national level.
On the coming October Birtukan is flying to Washington DC and Iowa invited by Oxfam America, World Food Prize and Iowa University. She is expected to share her experience, to give a keynote speech on WFP award ceremony and to meet several dealmakers and breakers in the agriculture sector. Her life, which exemplifies the power of endurance and hard work, will shine during her stay in the USA.
Like most rural women, she comes in a small frame. Winner of Female Food Heroes from Amhara region, Birtukan Tegegn was born in 1978 in a small village called Mechare. It is around 35 kilometres from the city Woldya and 600 kilometres from the capital Addis to the north. Just like most women who live in her small village she got married at 14, and gave birth for four children, three boys and a girl. The household was always hand to mouth. Her husband owned a very small land and she hardly remembers a time when there was enough to eat. However, things got worse in the year 2000, when her husband, the sole provider of the house, died. He left behind four small children and aging parents. Since she did not have a brother or any close male family member, her small land was to end up rotten and without a harvest. She received a constant sympathy from everyone around and no one knew how she would get out of her situation.
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