Legal status

AFD is a local organization(NGO) reregistered with the FDRE Authority for CSOs with certificate number 150. 

Establishment and structure

AFD evolved from the FAO-operated Freedom From Hunger Campaign/Action for Development (FFHC/AD), which was implementing a programme of integrated rural development in selected drought prone areas in the Southern part of Ethiopia for over a decade.  It was constituted as a national NGO in 1997 in consideration of the need to build upon the achievements of FFHC/AD and enhancing its impact, while promoting opportunities for the improvement of grassroots livelihoods and capabilities.

The supreme governing body of AFD is its General Assembly, while strategic guidance is provided by a Board of Directors.  Day-to-day activities are carried out by a secretariat with headquarters in Addis Ababa, and 3 field coordination offices in the Bale and Borana zones of the Oromia National Regional State, and the South Omo and Konso Zone, SNNPR. AFD currently operates with a staff size of 65, most of whom are programme staff suitably qualified and experienced in the organization’s areas of competence.