Biyadige Ayalew, 40, farms one hectare in Tejbahir kebele, Goncha Woreda, East Gojam, Ethiopia, growing teff, wheat, corn, horsebean, peas, and vegetables. He uses half his harvest for his household and sells the rest. He has also recently started beekeeping. Alongside farming, he has been volunteering as kebele administrator for nearly three years — unpaid. In that role, he oversees health and education services, mobilises residents for natural resource conservation, and facilitates tree planting. Tejbahir kebele has around 2,200 residents, most of them farmers.
Biyadige works alongside government-assigned Development Agents, including Yinges Biyadego, 32, a specialist in Natural Resource Conservation and Utilisation Management. Together they promote scientific farming methods — terracing, traditional irrigation — and coordinate environmental work across the kebele. Most residents collect drinking water from a river or spring. Around 50 hand-dug government wells exist in the kebele, though some are not functional. Health extension workers run regular hygiene and sanitation education, and Biyadige extends this by raising the issues at religious gatherings, one of the few settings where the broader community comes together.
His main challenge is not what people know — it is what they do. “I wish people practice what we teach them — that they build toilets and use them properly; that there will be a habit of proper handwashing, using soap, and practice of proper waste disposal. We teach the people how to dispose of solid and liquid waste, but they rarely practice it,” he said.
Nutrition follows a similar pattern. The most common meal in Tejbahir is injera with shiro stew. Eggs, meat, and vegetables are not regularly part of children’s diets, and pregnant women typically do not eat differently from the rest of the household. Men eat first; women and children eat after. Cooking and childcare are considered women’s work; men’s roles are primarily on the farm, with the exception of planting and weeding. “We don’t have the habit of eating nutritious food. I want to see a change in this area,” Biyadige said.
His response to slow change is to model it himself. “I can’t tell people to do something that I don’t practice myself. I need to be an exemplary leader, so I make sure I practice the hygiene and sanitation guidelines,” he said. He raised his four children — now aged 8, 13, 17, and 20 — on diversified food. He does not receive payment for his role as administrator. “I do all this not because I get paid — I don’t. But I want to leave my mark in my community,” he said.