ASE was officially established in Wolayta Soddo, fifty years ago, with certificate No. 53, Ref. 2277/5087, December 24, 1969, issued by the Ministry of Interior of the Imperial Government of Ethiopia. Later on it was re-registered as Ethiopian Resident Charity (No. 621/2009) by the Charities & Societies Agency of the Ministry of Justice, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is recently re-registered for the third time as a local NGO by Agency for Civil Society Organization of th Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia ( file no. 0124). It is a non-governmental indigenous, not-for-profit development organization working in rural Ethiopia on integrated food security and Community capacity building programs.

Starting its operation in Wolayita Sodo, ASE eventually expanded its projects to other areas of SNNP, Amahara, Oromiya, Benishangul Gumuz, Afar and Gambela regions with the objective of addressing the socioeconomic problems of the rural community through enabling them to critically approach their environment and encouraging being the leaders of their own development.