The Ethiopian-Israeli elders originally worked in agriculture, as did their forefathers. When they came to Israel, their physical connection to the land was broken, but many longed to renew it. In 2016 Prof. Alon Samach, of the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, created a unique, mutually beneficial encounter between experienced Ethiopian-Israeli farmers and future agronomists. He was allocated a plot at the Faculty’s Joseph Marguleas Experimental Farm and recruited eight Ethiopian-Israeli retirees. Each retiree was allocated a 25-meter strip where they grow crops.

Today approximately 40 farmers regularly work the land and participate in a weekly workshop where they share their knowledge with, and get help from, first-year Israeli undergraduates and international master’s students studying with the Smith Faculty of Agriculture.

The Project pairs agricultural students, many from developing countries, with Ethiopian-Israeli elders. They work together on a farm where they exchange knowledge and practices to improve crop production. The program provides students with their first taste of fieldwork, while the elders share their hard-won experience and learn about crops suited to the Israeli climate. Support for this community outreach-educational project will ensure its continuation and help further Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food, and Environment’s mission to advance sustainable agriculture in Israel and throughout the world.