Stakeholders visited cluster farms in the Oromia Region ©FAO

Raise a call to “Leave no one behind “as the country advances agricultural development and responds to shocks

25 October 2022, Bishoftu - Stakeholders in Ethiopia marked World Food Day on 24 October 2022 with an appeal to "leave no one behind" in strategies devised to advance agricultural development and respond to shocks in the food and agriculture sector. They also recognized the efforts of the Government of Ethiopia in improving agricultural productivity and food security of the population, amid various challenges.

Dr. Mandefro Nigusse, Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopian Agricultural Institute who spoke on behalf H.E Oumer Hussien Oba, Minister, Ministry of Agriculture said the transformation of the agriculture sector and achieving food security for all people in Ethiopia remains a top priority of the Government.

"To strengthen the Ethiopia`s resilience in the face of challenges of COVID-19, risk of prevailing conflicts, climate change and extreme whether events, and economic shocks, we have taken bold measures to sustainably boost national food supply by initiating the Green Legacy and targeted interventions, among which is irrigated wheat production",  he said.

Dr. Nigusse added that in the past three years, with the support of the Government, farmers established 450 000 hectares of irrigated wheat production and produced about 1.6 million tones.  

“The Government of Ethiopia has also embarked on transforming the existing food system with a particular focus on identifying, selecting and refining game-changing solutions, in close collaboration with a wide range of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders”, he added.

This year's World Food Day theme is - "Leave no one behind. Better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life". The theme is an urgent call for the world to face the alarming reality that more and more people are being left behind amid an increasing global food security crisis resulting from multiple drivers. The theme also calls for transformation to more efficient, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life.

Promising results of cluster farming approach

During a ceremony held in Bishoftu, Oromia Regional State, stakeholders, including representatives from the Government, United Nations, funding agencies, and NGOs, and the media visited some avocado, teff, and wheat farmers who are producing through a cluster farming approach. The farmers revealed that they had realized increased production, thanks to the support from the Government, including advisory services, good quality seeds, technologies, and inputs.

The Government of Ethiopia introduced cluster farming with the goal of ensuring food security, import substitution, export promotion and job creation. The approach entails farmers in their designated clusters and specializing in priority commodities planting simultaneously, using the same agro-ecologically specific fertilizers, benefiting from the same advisory services, and collectively harvesting their crops.

According to statistics from the Oromia Bureau of Agriculture, the current production year, the Region is, through the cluster farming approach, providing extension services to over four million smallholder farmers who dwell on about 6.6 million hectares of farmland. With the total of 6.7 million quintals of fertilizer and 1.2 million quintals of improved seeds supplied to the smallholder farmers, the Oromia Regional State expects about 220 million quintals of production will be obtained.

Food and agriculture challenges prevail.

Despite the excellent progress, stakeholders acknowledged that Ethiopia's food security faced threats from multiple directions, including climate-related shocks, increasing commodity prices, and conflict, effects of the COVID-19 pandemic among others. They reiterated that because most of these challenges were regional or global in nature and not unique to Ethiopia, it was important to strengthen regional and global cooperation while responding to them.

"Leave no one behind."

They further called for inclusive strategies that target the most vulnerable communities in the response. 

"This may mean providing cash and agricultural inputs and improving agricultural infrastructure; as some of the strategies to increase the resilience of vulnerable farming communities. Only in doing so will we achieve equitable and sustainable development where everyone counts", said Farayi Zimudzi, the FAO Representative in Ethiopia.

She further highlighted that some parts of Ethiopia were projected to experience up to five consecutive failed rainfall seasons. "The people most affected by these shocks are often the rural population that rely on agriculture for food and livelihood and who constitute 80 percent of Ethiopia's population", she added.

About World Food Day

World Food Day, marked annually on 16 October, highlights the millions of people worldwide who cannot afford a healthy diet and the need for regular access to nutritious food. The Day also commemorates the founding in 1945 of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).