Addis Ababa: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his remarks to the World Without Hunger Conference, revealed that Ethiopia has made significant progress towards achieving food security for all its citizens.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, over the past six years, Ethiopia’s focus on agricultural transformation and productivity has enabled the East African nation to double its cultivated land, the Prime Minister indicated. He added that the emphasis on high-value industrial crops is yielding promising outcomes, with significant gains in drought-resistant crops like wheat, teff, maize, and sorghum.
However, Premier Abiy noted that ongoing challenges persist throughout the Ethiopian food system, spanning production, distribution, and consumption. Production diversity and productivity are constrained by limited access to essential inputs, including fertilizers, seeds, and modern agricultural technologies, he indicated. Additionally, the Prime Minister highlighted population growth and agricultural intensificatio
n that have led to soil erosion, land degradation, and deforestation over time.
Responding to these issues, Abiy stressed the need for reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously building resilience to ongoing climate change and extreme weather events. To this effect, the Prime Minister pointed out Ethiopia’s remarkable achievements through the Green Legacy Initiative (GLI). Transformative initiatives such as the Green Legacy program, launched in 2019, aim at combating climate change and enhancing agricultural productivity. To date, 40 billion seedlings have been planted, with a target of 50 billion by 2026, expanding forest cover by more than 6 percent within five years.
This initiative has helped restore ecosystems and improve soil fertility, creating better conditions for sustainable agriculture, Abiy explained. He further added that Ethiopia’s strategic focus on wheat production marks a significant achievement through expanded irrigated farming and modernizing agricultural practi
ces. Ethiopia produced 230 million quintals of wheat in the past year, with irrigated wheat alone contributing 107 million quintals cultivated across 3 million hectares of land.
Integrated agro-industrial parks play a key role by providing processing facilities, storage, and market access, transforming raw products into high-value goods for local and global markets, PM Abiy stated. The nation’s investments in these spheres have also reduced post-harvest losses by 30 percent, boosted farmers’ incomes by 20 percent, and created thousands of jobs, he indicated.
Despite inflation, economic volatility, and global uncertainty, the Prime Minister said consistent efforts have been made to reduce national poverty. In doing so, the Premier reaffirmed Ethiopia’s commitment to expanding agro-industrialization and implementing inclusive policies that promote equitable progress for all segments of society.
The World Without Hunger Conference being undertaken in Ethiopia is seeing participation from Heads of State, Minis
ters, UN agencies, financial institutions, the private sector, and civil society, all committed to addressing global food insecurity, it was learned.