Self Help Africa's two-year Agricultural Cooperative Development Project in Ethiopia has seen the earnings of thousands of farm families double...

The charity Self Help Africa focuses on sustainable development projects, helping small scale farmers...

Its project in Africa was backed by a €1.5 million EU Food Facility grant...

The scheme set out to support 17,500 small-holder farmers in Ethiopia's Oromia and SNNPR Provinces and involved building up infrastructure and business development skills amongst cooperatives...

The charity received the thumbs up after an independent evaluation reported the project substantially increased food production and incomes...

What's more the ability of farmers cooperatives to support their members: "positively impacted on the lives and livelihoods..."

A report from independent consultants from the Dynamic Institute of Consultancy and Training (DICT) to the EU revealed the findings...

The extensive research was compiled following household surveys with 295 randomly selected beneficiaries; plus focus group discussions and interviews with cooperative executives and other key partners...

Self Help Africa's Agricultural Cooperative Development Project (ACDP) was selected by the EU Food Facility for funding to address developing world food shortages...

The DICT research revealed a whole range of positives, including how many farmers have improved their houses, bought assets like oxen, begun trading enterprises, and being able to pay schools fees, buy homes, etc on the back of the increased production successes...

Advantages the authors of the report noted included a clear evidence of a new entrepreneurial mindset amongst some cooperative union leaders with investments being made to advance the long-term success of the businesses...

The project was implemented in partnership with seven agricultural cooperative unions and included the construction of stores for seed multipliers, the construction of milk collection centres, and other practical infrastructure development...

The ambitious project set out to increase food production, and indirectly improve the lives of tens of thousands of people previously in rural poverty...