Spot the crops!

Click here for a cool puzzle. The answers are at the bottom of this page.

Mintwab's story

'Hi! My name's Mintwab. I'm 13 and I live in Mishikare village in Ethiopia, east Africa.

All the families round here are farmers. It's so important that we know how to farm well because we have to grow most of our food ourselves. We can't just pop off to the supermarket on a Saturday afternoon!

We work really hard to make our land productive. It's very dry and rocky. But I belong to a school club where we learn how to farm. We've just learned how to plant special trees to hold the soil together.

I help out on the family farm, too. We grow sorghum, maize and vegetables. If we have any left over I go to the market to sell it with my mum.

Some people in other parts of the country grow things such as coffee to sell as a cash crop to other countries.'

AQ4U! Can you find out what 'cash crops' means?

Last year was a bad time for our village. The harvest was not enough for everyone, and lots of people didn't have enough to eat. But next year is going to be better!

Puzzle answers:
Maize = C
Papaya = A
Cocoa pod = E
Groundnuts = B
Sorghum = G
Rice = D
Yam = H
Tomato = F

Elaine Duigenan/Christian Aid

Mintwab and her friend, Selemon

Elaine Duigenan/Christian Aid

The environment club working in the banana field