The sheltering forest

As we drive along a dirt road up into the hills towards Gedeo in southern Ethiopia, the forest becomes noticeably denser and the air increasingly humid. I roll the window all the way down, close my eyes and smell the fresh, sweet air flowing in.

I am on my way to the district of Bule, home to the Gedeo people, who practice a unique form of agroforestry on their land. The United Nations reports that nearly eight million people in Ethiopia do not have adequate food. But while poverty levels are high in Gedeo, food does not run short.

To understand why this is, I’ve come to meet Aster Gemede, 32, a farmer and mother of six. She appears at the entrance to her bamboo-fenced compound, flanked by three daughters and a small barking dog. I’m welcomed in with a warm smile and one of her elder daughters starts to roast coffee beans.

‘We grow it here in our yard,’