Ethiopians build a stream crossing as part of a labor-based road construction project in Amhara province.
The SANREM CRSP has received an associate award from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to train Ethiopians to improve the construction and sustainability of their roads.
Many roads in Ethiopia are poorly designed and constructed, which leads to premature road failure, high maintenance costs, and serious environmental problems. The roads concentrate the flow of water, which increases erosion and causes sediment to build up on nearby fields, damaging crop growth. A better road design could lessen erosion and more efficiently disperse water to ponds for agricultural use during Ethiopia’s dry season.