The four-year Yelemat Tirufat Program is being implemented in Ethiopia to ensure food sovereignty and, in particular, to ensure health and mental development. The program is designed to ensure that nutritious foods such as milk, eggs, meat, fish and honey are available at the household level and are also marketed to benefit consumers.
The program is designed to ensure that these nutritious foods are not lost from the Lemat (dining table) every day. For Ethiopia, which has not ensured its food security, the major issue is: what should be produced? Why should it be produced? And when should it be produced? Programs that will enable the widespread cultivation of these types of food have been designed and implemented.
This program, which was launched around 2022/23, is showing good results. Yelemat Tirufat Program, which is implemented at the household level, is a change in the way people eat.
With this development, milk, eggs, meat, fish, and honey will be abundant in the market; it was expected that their prices would be stabilized; it was feared that the product would be oversold and its productivity would be negatively affected. However, the market price of the products is constantly increasing. The people are complaining that their purchasing power is not commensurate with the price of the products.
How did this happen? How Yelemat Tirufat Plan and its implementation are seen? What results did it achieve? What is the reason for the products not being abundant as planned?
According to Tsigereda Fikadu, the Executive Director of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Fisheries Development Department, the program is being implemented extensively, and it is being effective at the same time.
She said that the increase in production is also playing its part in improving food security, contributing significantly to increasing farmers’ income and creating job opportunities for many.
The government is developing and implementing Yelemat Tirufat Initiative, recognizing the contribution that the use of livestock in the country can make to it.
According to Tsigereda, the program is led by the top leadership or ministerial level at the national level. At the regional level, it is led by the presidents; thus, it has received significant attention.
Being led by senior officials is creating favorable conditions for the sector, and the problems of the sector are being solved. Since the beginning of the Initiative, the livestock sector has received wide attention; public awareness is growing; many women and youth are entering the sector. Programs that did not want to support before are coming to the sector to support them.
She mentioned that Yelemat Tirufat focuses on milk, chicken, fish and honey, and explained that the performance of the program was low in the beginning, but now there has been a significant change in three years.
The capacity to distribute one-day-old chicks at the national level was 26 million. At the end of last year, 74 million were distributed. This year’s plan is 150 million; 90 million chicks have been distributed so far.
The distribution of fish species has also increased. Previously, 1.5 million species were distributed; but reached six million now showcasing the increased distribution capacity following the initiative.
She recalled that the program has been running for three years with many challenges, and also pointed out that it faced certain problems, especially when it was launched.
One of the problems mentioned by the CEO was lack of input supply. The fact that the work was carried out in an uncoordinated manner in the regions in the past is another issue that is mentioned as a problem. Although many people have started importing and distributing pre-parent chickens, many have left the sector due to the shortage of foreign exchange and the difficulty of obtaining foreign exchange as these chickens are imported.
“The previous agricultural and rural development policy did not consider private investors,” the CEO said, adding that although investors were interested in entering the sector, the conditions were not conducive.
Tsigereda explained the steps taken to address the above-mentioned problems; the government has made efforts to alleviate the shortage including the budget; it has been possible to include funds in programs at the federal level; and the regions are also working on allocating their income for the program.
Mentioning that an attempt is being made to change the situation where it was being done in a scattered manner in the regions and work at the village level; the CEO said that the start of work at the village level has created a favorable environment for carrying out capacity building activities and providing inputs and medical services. She also said that a favorable market has been created for the products.
Some works that were not thought to be implemented before have been carried out, and that previously, chicken breeds were distributed in poultry farming by importing them from abroad. But now, to alleviate the problem associated with foreign exchange, it has been possible to easily obtain parent chickens by importing pre-parent chickens. She also indicated that there will be a wide opportunity to distribute parent chickens starting from this month. It is expected that many people will join the sector with the introduction of pre-parent chickens into the country.
According to her, if an investor does not have a favorable environment for development, neither the investor nor the country will benefit. Keeping this in mind, the Ministry of Agriculture has revised its policy with a view to creating a policy-supported environment for investors to participate widely. The new policy sets out a framework for investors to participate by creating favorable conditions. In addition to setting it at the policy level, implementation guidelines are also being prepared.
In response to a question how effective has it been in ensuring food security and achieving abundant production, the CEO said that the aim of Yelemat Tirufat program is to ensure food security. It is a program designed to ensure that the community eats well; that animal products provide proteins easily; and that children grow up in a healthy way. The goal is being achieved as planned.
She further explained that the target was set within their capacity and that they were able to succeed in this; but despite the population increasing continuously and the corresponding increase is not in the expected level, she firmly believes that the production of Yelemat Tirufat has increased beyond expectation.
“It is difficult to say that the production has abundantly increased to the desired level,” she said; however, it is not possible to say that there is a shortage of supply. Both eggs and chicken are expensive in the market without being lost; there are various reasons for this.
According to her, more than 70 to 80% of the cost of poultry farming is spent on feed. The increase in feed prices has increased the price of chicken. Another thing is that the government had previously removed VAT on eggs to encourage producers. But now VAT has been added. There are many other reasons for the price hike.
“Since this is the first program, when the second Yelemat Tirufat program is launched, the results will increase and the problem will be alleviated,” she said, adding that working to provide it to the community at a reasonable price will be the next direction.
On the other hand, the price is not as expensive in the region as in the city. Because in the region, the community produces in their own homes, there are few buyers. In the city, if the community produces on its own at the family level, more production can be obtained. Since many people in the city do not have land, they cannot produce. However, there is a situation that can be worked on to encourage urban agriculture so that all those who have land can produce. To create a favorable environment for that, the Urban Agriculture Department is established by the Ministry and is operational.
In response to a question about the financial problem, she said that the availability of credit in Ethiopia is limited. Those who do have it require collateral. Those who want a loan may not have the collateral to provide it. Efforts are being made at the government level to improve this; following this, the availability of credit is improving from time to time.
Regarding the lack of awareness, many people have changed their attitudes towards poultry farming and other animal products. As many are benefiting from this development, the public’s awareness has increased, and many people are showing the initiative to enter the sector. This initiative is growing.
For this, she cited the poultry farming seen everywhere in Bishoftu as an example. The young people are raising chickens. If they enter the business without learning and training in another field, it will not be profitable for them. Many of the trained youth understand the business and those entering the business are succeeding.
BY BACHA ZEWDIE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 11 MAY 2025
