When the Humbo Mountain Breathed Again

Recently, I visited Humbo, in southern Ethiopia, a place where every leaf carries the memory of hard times and the resilience of its people. From afar, the mountain looks calm, but up close, the soil tells a different story: scars of drought and patches of bare land reveal the struggle beneath. As a communicator, I have the privilege of witnessing and sharing stories like this where the land and its people rise together, turning hardship into renewal.

At the heart of Humbo, I met Martha, a mother of six. Her eyes carry echoes of the past, hunger, the endless search for firewood, and the days her children missed school just to survive.

“It was difficult,” she said softly. “We faced food scarcity. My children often missed school, forced to scavenge for firewood to make some money.”

Back then, the mountain was dry and cracked, leaving every home in Hobicha Woreda struggling to survive, as the land could no longer feed the people or their cattle.

Change didn’t come as a miracle; it came as work. When World Vision arrived in 2006, they brought knowledge, not handouts, on how to care for the land, build terraces, plant trees, and let the soil recover. Slowly, the mountain began to heal. Small shoots of trees sprouted, terraces held water, and the soil grew richer with each season.

The Humbo Community Reforestation Project

This effort grew into the Humbo Community Reforestation Project, launched by World Vision in partnership with the local community, Africa’s first large-scale carbon project registered under the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Since 2005, this initiative has:

• Restored 2,728 hectares of degraded land through Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration and tree planting
• Rebuilt a thriving forest and helped return rainfall to the region
• Contributed to reaching over 388,000 people through environmental and climate-change interventions in the Humbo area.
• Earned over USD $1.18 million from carbon sales, directly benefiting local communities.

This money has been invested in essential community projects:

• Building grain stores
• Purchasing flour mills
• Providing microfinance to over 1,200 households

These efforts empowered families to create their own stability and shape their futures.

Life Today: A Garden of Hope

Martha was one of the people who gained this knowledge, and today her garden is alive and abundant with bananas, mangoes, avocados, guavas, and pigeon peas that feed her soil, her cattle, and her family. She grows all this naturally, relying on her own determined hands and the wisdom she has learnt from the project.

Children who once walked miles for firewood now walk to school. The restored forest has:

• Brought back wildlife
• Improved groundwater
• Reduced erosion and flooding

And in the hearts of the people, dignity, unity, and resilience have returned.

Watching Martha and her child cradle ripe bananas, I saw the results of years of patience and hard work, a community shaping its future.

“Start the transformation with your hands and hearts. Believe in the power of community and the resilience of the human spirit,” Martha said. 

As the wind brushed through the green canopy of Humbo, it was clear: this mountain isn’t just alive again. It’s a living testament to effort, care, and hope.

To World Vision Australia, Martha and her community say thank you for helping them turn dust into forest, despair into hope, and survival into a story of renewal.

By Samuel Teshale, Production Specialist, World Vision Ethiopia