Luther students working on Ethiopian irrigation project

A group of Luther College students is working on expanding an irrigation project in Ethiopia that was started through donations for Luther College faculty, staff and students and through grants from the Davis Projects for Peace and The Rukavinah Family Foundation.  The first project focused on creating less dependency on seasonal rainfall by encouraging Ethiopian farmers to establish sustainable food security through the establishment of an irrigation based organized farming model for the region.

Now the students have formed a non-profit organization, "I-ImpactNow," which is raising funds to implement a second project in Ethiopia in January of 2011.  The second part will take place in another area of Ethiopia where at least 50 farmers have already agreed to establish a cooperative. The expanded project also plans to establish a micro-insurance program in order to create a means of reimbursing the cooperative if planted crops fail, and a micro-financing program to raise investment money to implement similar projects in other areas of the world.
 
The group has set a fundraising goal of $35,000 in donations by the end of this year.

More information about the project and the fund drive are available on www.i-impactnow.org.  Donations can be sent to I-ImpactNow c/o Student Life Office, Luther College, 700 College Drive, Decorah, Iowa 52101.  Call (563) 387-1020 with any questions.