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BERSMP conducts development
partners’ visit
 Bale
Eco-Region Sustainable Management
Programme (BERSMP) conducted a visit of
development partners to Oromia Region
Bale Zone on 2-4 May, 2010.
BERSMP officials briefed representatives
from the Embassies of Ireland, Norway
and the Netherlands, giving an overview
of the programme and explaining its
partnership with the government. SOS
Sahel-Ethiopia Director Feyera Abedi and
OFWE Director H.M.P Dr. Girma Amente
participated in the visit.
The visit included youth groups,
community-based organizations and
income-generating activities.
Institutions visited included the
Collection, Processing and Learning
(CPL) Centre in Goba, Medawelabu
University, and Bale Zone Planning
Department - in order to witness the
mainstreaming of Eco-Region Planning
Tools into government planning systems -
and to discuss with woreda government
officials about PFM institutionalization
actions and progress.
The
sustainability of programme results
The visiting development partners
emphasized the need to focus on
sustainability of programme results.
BERSMP Programme Coordinator, Tsegaye
Taddess, said, “The programme builds
capacity both formally and non-formally,
and has conducted community-to-community
exchange visits”.
H.M.P Dr. Girma Amnete, Director of the
Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise (OFWE),
stated that the programme is working
together with government and community,
and that lessons learned from the joint
PFM implementation has helped OFWE to
identify and fill its gaps, as well as
to scale up PFM.
Optimising productivity and
profitability for CBOs
The embassy representatives suggested
that the programme focus upon optimizing
productivity and profitability for
community-based enterprises. Anne
Holmes of Irish Aid commented, “In order
to effect sustainable management of the
Eco-Region, the programme must focus on
optimizing the productivity and
profitability of community
enterprises”.
Mersha Argaw, a representative from the
Norwegian Embassy, explained that the
sustainability of BERSMP’s efforts will
be ensured if the communities’ short
term benefit is optimized. One possible
way of doing this is to set up a benefit
sharing scheme.
Dereje Jembere, OFWE PFM focal person,
ensured the partners that the Enterprise
will set up objective benefit sharing
schemes soon. “OFWE, in partnership with
FARM Africa/SOS Sahel Ethiopia, has
written a document on benefit sharing.
It will be applied after consultation
with stakeholders” said Dereje.
Netherlands Embassy representative
Metsehate Ayenekulu also said, “BERSMP
has to scale up its knowledge
transferring activities. We have
witnessed men transferring forest
conservation related knowledge to the
youth. We also have to transfer women’s
traditional knowledge.”
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