- Addis Ababa: A delegation of experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and key Ethiopian Government offices, are expected to conduct a study tour in Tanzania with the aim of learning from the country’s Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in the agriculture sector. 

The main purpose of the exchange visit, which will take place between 9 – 15 February 2025, is to support learning and experience sharing with Tanzania, which is considered to have more well-established and efficient Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) systems.

The experts are coming from the FAO Ethiopia Country Office, FAO Region of Africa and Resilience Hub for Southern Africa, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission and Ethiopian Meteorological Institute.

They are derived from crop, livestock, extension, plant protection, environment, climate change, disaster risk management, metrology, early warning, and resilience building areas of expertise, among others.

The exchange visit is facilitated by the European Union (EU) funded ‘Support to Effective Food Security, Nutrition and Resilience Programming in Ethiopia (ProAct II)’ project, which seeks to support the country to improve food security, nutrition and resilience of vulnerable communities by influencing investments in resilience building and improving quality programming.

Speaking ahead of the visit, FAO Representative in Ethiopia, Ms. Farayi Zimudzi, said that the study tour takes into account similarities in the socio-economic and agro-ecological settings.

“It takes into account the common challenges as well as the urgent need to prevent and reduce disasters while building resilience of smallholder actors in the agrifood system as a whole,” she said adding:

“It is our hope that this exchange visit will provide an in- depth understanding on DRM coordination, mainstreaming, as well as the mutually reinforcing factors that affect the integration of DRM in agriculture sector, and the possible actions that need to be in place at all levels to strengthen mechanisms for DRM mainstreaming in the sector.”

Like many countries, Ethiopia has experienced various disasters of high magnitude and impacts over the years ranging from climate related, human, crops and livestock related pests and diseases, among others.

Their occurrence has been characterized by increase in frequencies and are often overlapping, weakening the national economy and adversely affecting people’s lives and livelihoods necessitating the need for building the country’s capacity in DRR.

While in the country, the delegation is expected to visit key partners and Tanzania Government offices in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Arusha and Manyara regions including FAO in Tanzania, the World Food Programme (WFP), Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Prime Ministers’ Officer Disaster Risk Management Department, and Tanzania Meteorological Agency.

The experts will also visit the National Food Reserve Agency, Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority before going to assess the landslide recovery processes in Hanang, Manyara region following the devastating catastrophe that claimed many lives and wreaked havoc to livelihoods including those of small-holder farmers.

For further information, please contact:

Emmanuel Kihaule
International Communications Specialist
FAO Ethiopia
Email: [email protected]