 The organisation was established due to data received from a 1994 study exposing severe land degradation and unsustainable population dynamics in Ethiopia and Eritrea.Partnerships with Eritrean organizations were discontinued due to the war between the two countries in 1998.NOVIB has been gradually expanding the scope, geographic locations and diversity of its programs in Ethiopia, paving the way for SLUF in February 2002 and renamed as Sustainable Land Use Forum.