Ethiopian farmers benefiting from vermicompost

DW (English)

Farmers in one part of southern Ethiopia are making their own organic compost with the help of earthworms. It’s good for the farmers and the wider region. After initial resistance, it’s now catching on fast, bringing positive change.

Transcript

00:00The sight of ringling worms might be unpleasant to some, but Omid Tubushura thinks it's beautiful.

00:09She is a farmer in the village of Aruma in Ethiopia's Idama region.

00:14The worms she keeps are an asset to her and their demands are modest. She feeds them food,

00:20scraps, leaves and organic waste, which they in turn transform into vermicompost.

00:27This worm poop that Omid Tubushura harvests from her unusual pets

00:30is an excellent and environmentally friendly fertilizer which she uses on her own crops.

00:44I used vermicompost for this maize field. Even though there is

00:48not a lot of rain at the moment, it is growing well.

00:51If I had used chemical fertilizer, I would have needed to spend up to 25,000 pir,

00:57which would be more than 400 euro. That's a lot of money. But by making and using the

01:05compost from my worms, I can make a profit and provide enough food for my family.

01:15And she is not the only worm keeper in the village.

01:21When the rainy season starts, I use my own organic fertilizer. In fact, I don't think

01:27that I will need any phosphate or urea fertilizer from agricultural office at all this year.

01:38The vermicompost project in Aruma started in 2016 with just four participants including

01:45Asefa Amebo and Omid Tubushura. Now, the local agricultural office has trained over a hundred

01:51farmers to produce vermicompost. But it took a long time for people to accept the worm keepers

01:57and realize the value of these creepy crawlies.

02:04Some people would stay away from me just because I keep worms on my compound.

02:10They saw me touching the worms with my hands and so some of them even told my husband

02:15not to eat my food anymore. But my husband supported me the whole time.

02:24And gradually people started to realize the benefit of these creatures. Around 60 farmers

02:30have since asked me for worms pound and I have supplied them all.

02:39And the worm word keeps spreading. An agricultural officer from the

02:48neighboring Malga district has now come to Aruma to learn more about the ecological project.

03:00We are very keen to extend this initiative to our village too

03:04as it is very cheap and simple solution. The farmers are saying they want to make

03:08their own compost instead of having to buy chemical fertilizer.

03:18The worms and their valuable product are gaining more and more funds in the region.

03:23Meanwhile, Asefa Amebo and other local worm pioneers

03:26are earning a steady income from selling their organic fertilizer and worms pound.

03:31A kilogram of spawn costs the equivalent of 8 euros while 100 kilograms of vermicompost

03:39is 25 euros. The farmers are benefiting from the training they've received and are now less

03:44dependent on chemical fertilizers which can be very expensive and are harmful to the environment.

03:50Soil pollution is also protected by using vermicompost fertilizer. That means any polluting

04:02residue is easily managed by decomposing. So our environment is free from any polluting.

04:10Due to its success at the local level, the project will now be extended to the entire

04:15region. So the next time you are tempted to recoil from these little creatures,

04:21don't think of them as vermin. Think of vermicompost.

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