A joint initiative by SOS Sahel Ethiopia and International Development Enterprise (IDE), the SLIP was launched in September 2006 and will be phasing out in 2011.
The aim of the SLIP project is to improve the food and livelihood security of smallholder households in three target communities: Awassa Zuria in the Sidama Zone, and Meskan and Mareko in the Guraghe Zone of the SNNPR.
The SLIP introduced and adopted the Poverty Reduction through Irrigation and Smallholder Markets approach, which enables smallholder farmers to become entrepreneurs by transforming natural resources (land and water), human resources (labour and skills), and agri-inputs into high-value agricultural products. In turn, these agricultural products can be marketed at economically rewarding prices.
Furthermore, the introduction of Affordable Micro-Irrigation Technologies (AMITs) in the target communities has increased the productivity of smallholder farmers, and has enabled their integration into the market system.
The SLIP project is funded by: