Inspirational Activist Stories
 From November 7 -17, 2007, staff and volunteers from Sierra Club's Global Population and Environment Program and from the National Audubon Society, traveled to Ethiopia to learn about the complex conservation, health and development challenges facing East Africa. The group visited projects funded by USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development) as well as local organizations, witnessing first-hand the ways in which voluntary family planning programs can improve the health and well-being of both communities and the environment.
While in Ethiopia, study tour participants attended a conference titled Population, Health, and Environment: Integrated Development for East Africa. This event was sponsored by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) and LEM Ethiopia and was held November 14-16, 2007, in Addis Ababa. More than 200 development professionals from around the world, including many from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia attended the conference.
Read below for in-depth articles written by study tour participants!
My Journey to Ethiopia
By Ty Dawson, Sierra Student Coalition Ohio State Organizer
 In November of 2007, I had the amazing opportunity to join a group of Sierra Club and Audubon volunteers and staff on a study tour to Ethiopia. Before this I had never traveled outside of the United States, so my excitement prior to the trip was unparalleled. When we arrived in Addis Ababa, I found a beautiful country full of color and life, with some of the friendliest people I had ever met-and their coffee wasn't bad either!
But despite the incredible beauty that I encountered, I learned about the complex conservation, health and development challenges facing East Africa, and Ethiopia in particular. For example, Ethiopia used to be one of the most forested countries in Africa with 40% forest cover, and now most of the landscape is barren-an estimated 2.4% of forests remain.(1) I also witnessed immense poverty, and learned how many people lack access to basic health care and education.
 Only about 40 percent of the population lives within five kilometers (one hour's walk) of a health facility, and according to the Ethiopian Economic Association (2002), only two-thirds of children attend primary school. These challenges are further complicated by population growth; Ethiopia is the third most populated country in Africa. With 72 million people, the country gains almost 2 million more each year. This is compounded by the reality that 43% of the population is under the age of 15.
As one can imagine, it was really difficult to see these harsh realities first-hand, but fortunately my story is not all gloom and doom! Thanks to the Sierra Club and Audubon Study Tour organizers and the tremendous help of international organizations like Pathfinder International, we were able to see little beacons of hope. These were urban and rural project sites where efforts are being made to integrate programs that take holistic approaches to address community concerns on population, health, and the environment. Seeing the women, children, and men in these villages learning about sustainable agriculture practices, reproductive health, family planning, micro-credit, and basic health care, really made me light up. This was especially true when I saw how access to education empowered them-especially the women in a small village we visited outside of Awasa. Seeing the strength of these women and the smiling faces of the children really gave me a sense of purpose.
Now that I'm back in the states, that sense of purpose has catapulted me into continuing my action on the interconnected issues of environmental protection, poverty alleviation, health and sustainable development. During this coming year, I will be giving presentations to groups within the Sierra Club and Sierra Student Coalition, as well as to other groups on my campus and in Ohio State, to share stories about my time in Ethiopia. I will ask them to join me in advocating for increased and unrestricted funding for voluntary family planning programs that are cost-effective, in demand, and are integrating healthcare with natural resource conservation. Through my efforts I hope to build a more just and equitable future, for healthier communities, and a healthier planet.
Sierra Club Activists Visit Ethiopia
 Success often comes through a multifaceted rather than a single-pronged approach to a problem. This is certainly true of the successful Population Health and Environment programs witnessed by Sierra Club activists Ned and Mary Grossnickle on a recent trip to Ethiopia.
Population Health and Environment (PHE) projects address the complex connections between humans, their health, and their environment. Programs that focus on the connection between family planning, health, and the environment are more successful in terms of sustainability and efficiency than similar programs pursued separately.
In Ethiopia, as in many countries in Africa and around the world, rapid population growth has put a huge strain on the environment. Growing rural communities struggle to survive on land that is deforested, with little access to basic services like clean water, sanitation and health care. In a country whose population is projected to double in the next 28 years, these trends are alarming.
 The Grossnickles, along with other activists from the Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society, visited small-scale development projects in which communities are working to address the related challenges of population growth, health, and environmental protection.
In PHE projects, the voluntary family planning component is critical. If all currently married women who say they want to space or limit the number of their children were to use family planning, the contraceptive prevalence rate in Ethiopia would increase from 15% to 49%. Currently only 31% of the demand for family planning is being met.
"We need to increase our support for these programs," said Mary Grossnickle. "Allowing women to space or limit the number of children leads to improved health for both women and for children. When families are healthy, the community is more prosperous, and the quality of life of the entire community is improved."
Ned Grossnickle, co-chair of the Sierra Club's Global Population and Environment Program Committee stated, "The purchasing power of international voluntary family planning programs has greatly declined just as the need has greatly increased. The US currently spends less than one-half of one percent of our federal budget for non-military foreign aid."
Education is an important component of many PHE projects. Among women in developing countries, more education often leads to smaller family size. For example, women in Ethiopia with a secondary or higher education have an average of 2.0 children, whereas women with no education have an average of 6.1 children.
PHE projects also include health-related goals such as immunizations, improved water quality, voluntary counseling and testing for HIV, clean water, and improved diets through backyard gardens.
Increasing population growth has accelerated land degradation, as forests are converted to farms and growing numbers of households use unsustainable agricultural methods to eke out a living on marginal land.
In Ethiopia, as in other areas of the world, family planning is an important part of a broader development package that can foster household and community well-being in the short term and help to ease pressure on natural resources over time.
You can contact Ned Grossnickle at dubay@mtc.net.
- Integrating Population, Health and Environment In Ethiopia by Kristen P. Patterson of Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
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