Written by Martin Bentham | From Evening Standard

The vivid green landscape was once known as Ethiopia’s “Valley of Death”.

Now, as a mango tree glints in the sunlight beside him, farmer Desta Beletew looks across the fields and describes the transformation. “You didn’t see trees like this, not even the grass, it was just bare fields. People were dying by the road,” he says, reflecting on the deadly famine of 30 years ago, which prompted the Live Aid concerts and one of the world’s greatest ever humanitarian relief efforts.

“Everyone was thirsty, thin, very weak — not strong like now. It was difficult to guess that it could be better. But now the bad times won’t come back.”

Mr Beletew’s confidence is reflected by the variety of crops growing around him in Ethiopia’s Antsokia Valley.

As well as mangos, his farm now produces papayas, oranges and bananas, as well as more traditional local crops such as teff — a type of cereal — onions, sorghum and maize. Bee hives hang from three of his trees, while sheep and chickens provide further income.

It is a stark contrast with three decades ago, when Antsokia was one of the first areas to suffer the full force of a drought that led to two years of famine, death and malnutrition in Ethiopia.

Rainfall shortages, accentuated by the effects of climate change, continue to menace the area.

But, as Mr Beletew explains, the people of Antsokia are now equipped to cope after learning more productive agricultural techniques from World Vision, a charity which helped bring the famine to the world’s attention by flying in BBC journalist Michael Buerk for a landmark 1984 report that exposed the emerging crisis.

Since then the charity has taught farmers to grow new foods, as well as organic fertilising and crop rotation methods that improve soil quality.

Mr Beletew says that tuition on water preservation has brought even greater benefits, illustrating his point by showing off a charity-funded concrete irrigation channel running across his land.

“Thirty years ago, it was not just drought that was the problem: we didn’t know how to use our resources properly so [water] was wasted,” he says.

“Now we know how to use water more efficiently. We’ve learnt how to use our land better. So I’m very optimistic.”

Read more from Evening Standard