Addis Ababa: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has urged Ethiopians to work with extraordinary devotion towards realizing the country’s aspiration to eliminate aid dependency and become food self-sufficient.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, in a wide-ranging interview with EBC, the Prime Minister stressed that aid dependency in Ethiopia is a grave concern. He underscored that it is unacceptable for a large nation like Ethiopia to be unable to feed itself and instead rely on aid from others. Abiy emphasized the importance of not passing on this dependency to future generations.
The Prime Minister elaborated that the government has a firm stance not only to address the severe consequences of dependency and eliminate it, but also to extend help to others and bring about change. To achieve this, the government has conducted extensive public discussions down to the lowest administrative levels, with positive public responses, according to the Prime Minister.
Abiy noted that eliminating aid dependency has now become a shared vision between Ethiopians and the government. Concrete results have been achieved through joint efforts by the public and the government to reduce aid dependence. This progress is evident as the number of aid recipients in Ethiopia has decreased from nearly 27 million five years ago to 3.9 million currently.
The Prime Minister highlighted that extricating 23 million people from aid dependency is a significant indicator of Ethiopia’s progress. He stated that the government is dedicated to completely lifting Ethiopia from aid dependency within a few years.
The Prime Minister called on the public to continue their consolidated efforts not only to eliminate aid dependency and achieve self-reliance but also to support the initiative of extending assistance to others.