The Canadian Foodgrains Bank's first Ethiopian tour for educators has returned to Canada.

The two-week trip in early July brought Canadian teachers together to visit community development and emergency food relief projects in Ethopia, supported by the Foodgrains Bank. On the trip, educators learned about food security today, compared to the famine of the 1980s. While food security back then translated to simply not having food, food security today is more of an issue of having enough food that can be reliably produced. Climate change, environmental degradation and poverty are some of challenges Ethiopian farmers face.

"We visited one region in the northern part of Ethiopia called the Afar region, where 50 years ago, or one generation ago, was green and lush, and now it's turned into a pretty remote desert," says one of the participants, Jordan Penner of Horndean. "So they're having to find new ways — and Foodgrains is helping in consultation — in finding ways to reclaim or find new sources of arable land in that region."

Penner says international food security relates to Canada in two ways. Firstly, he says Canadians don't realize how prevalent and important our country is for Ethiopians. Secondly, food security in Ethiopia is a much more first-hand experience than in Canada.

"Here in Canada, there is a very, very profound disconnect between the food production and how vital of a role that plays in the Canadian economy, and also the realization of where food comes from and the consumer," Penner says. "For many people, their understanding of food supply is the grocery store. Whereas in Ethiopia, where 86 per cent of the populous is a farmer directly involved in food production, it is very, very apparent how essential it is for reliable and effective production."

Penner says typical crops produced in Ethiopia include teff, maize, and sorghum.