The initiative is situated in Gamo Zone, in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region.

The Shella Mella cooperative established in 2013. The cooperative supports its 200 members in shifting from a conventional to organic production, with on-going support from the Pesticide Action Network (PAN). The cooperative supports its members in different aspects :

Seed : the cooperative was certified organic in 2017. It plays a key role in seed selection and distribution of organic cotton seed to its members.

Soil fertility enhancement : including use of green manure, farmyard manure, compost, crop rotation and sowing leguminous plants during the off-season.

Plant protection : Plant protection is based exclusively upon biological control agents and plant extracts, including neem seed extract.

Market : Recently a contract farming scheme has been implemented whereby the cooperative sells its cotton directly to textile factories, and the textile factories in turn support the extension system.

The pilot project on the use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was initiated in 2006. Using a Farmer Field School approach, this project supported more than 3,000 farmers in 14 villages to adopt IPM on their organic cotton production. The number of women participants is increasing and currently, women comprise 30% of the participants of the Farmers Field Schools.

This fact sheet is produced as part of the Avaclim project, which aims to create the necessary conditions for the deployment of agroecology in dryland areas. The international solidarity association CARI coordinates the Avaclim project while the Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD) carries out the implementation in Ethiopia.