Month: September 2023

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has covered 15.8 million hectares of agricultural land with various crops during the current Ethiopian Meher farming season, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

In a press conference on Friday regarding the ongoing farming activities in the country, State Minister for Agriculture and Horticulture, Melese Mekonnen said Ethiopia had planned to cultivate 17.39 million hectares of land for the Meher season, which is Ethiopia's main farming season that extends from May to September.

Some 15.8 million hectares of land have so far been cultivated with various crops across the nation, according to the state minister.

Of the total, 7.66 million hectares were cultivated through cluster farming system, This includes 2.8 million hectares of wheat, against a target of 3.66 million hectares for the harvest, he added.

More than 2.69 hectares of land has been cultivated during the Belg season exceeding the planed 2.48 hectares, he pointed out noting that some 1.87 hectares of the cultivated crops have so far been harvested.

Melese noted Ethiopia has untapped potential for rice cultivation in Oromia, Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz regional states.

While traditionally less than 300,000 hectares of land were used for rice farming, mainly in the Fogera area, Ethiopia seeded over 990,000 hectares of rice this year, out of the 1.13 million hectare target.

According to the state minister, intensive efforts are underway to enhance the agriculture development of the country with a view to ensuring food self-sufficiency, boost export trade and import substitution as well as strengthen supply of industrial input.

The state Minister underscored the country's promising agricultural productivity and potential.

While lauding these achievements, the minister emphasized that more can be done to maximize Ethiopia's agricultural potential.

Overall, the state minister struck an optimistic tone regarding the future of Ethiopian agriculture. With ideal agro-ecological conditions and good rain the country is poised to become an agricultural success story, he said.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Addis Ababa, Strong collaboration is needed among the government, partners and the international community in the pursuit to find durable solutions for refugees and their hosts, Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) Director-General Teyiba Hassen said.

Addressing a meeting on lessons learned from a decade of strategic partnership with the philanthropic organization IKEA foundation today, the director-general stated that refuge operation has been in the recent past transitioning from humanitarian assistance to development intervention.

The intent is to promote jobs and livelihood, refugees and their host to become self-reliant, she added.

In such initiatives, IKEA foundation has been working with Ethiopia’s Refugees and Returnees Service, Somali Regional State and UNHCR as well as partners in order to bring better socio-economic benefits to refugees and their hosts, Teyiba said.

According to her, IKEA foundation has invested over 120 million USD in the Melkadida refugee operation in Somali Regional State.

The foundation initially started by funding emergency relief, but gradually started supporting economic development and livelihood opportunities for refugees and host communities.

Agriculture and livestock value chains, renewable energy, fuel saving cooking stoves and charcoal production at the cooperative level are among the projects being financed by IKEA foundation in Melkadida, it was learned.

Teyiba finally called for strong collaboration among the government, stakeholders, partners, and the international community in the pursuit to find durable solutions by stimulating their business orientation and income generation mindset.

IKEA Foundation CEO, Per Heggenes said on his part that development is required in humanitarian setting which is one of the major learning.

However, he added that any kind of system change like this requires long-term investment.

“This is not a two-year contract project, it really is a community development; and a community development approach will have to be with refugees and host communities together.”

For the CEO, refugees are assets, if we deal with them in the right way. We can integrate in the right way, provide positivity to the host community and provide value for everyone.

Recall that Ethiopia hosts nearly one million refugees and asylum seekers who fled from neighboring countries and beyond.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency