According to Article 90 of the FDRE Constitution, the government has an obligation to provide food with a precise statement that “to the extent the country’s resources permit, policies shall aim to provide all Ethiopians access to public health and education, clean water, housing, food and social security.” The article identifies food access as one of the official policy direction principles and mandates that the government create and implement measures to provide social security and food access.
Article 43 of the constitution also says the People of Ethiopia as a whole, and each Nation, Nationality, and People in Ethiopia, in particular, have the right to improved living standards and sustainable development.
The country has also ratified different UN agreements on Food security and it is striving to implement the constitution and the agreements through creating different conducive environments.
It can be recalled that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (Ph.D) has been awarded the prestigious FAO Agricola Medal in Rome last year for his successful and remarkable results in ensuring food security. Also the country has been obtaining a chance to host international conferences on food security.
The 2025 Nutrition for Growth Summit was held in Paris, France, at the global level. This summit is held every four years and is a platform where United Nations member states and partners express their commitment to nutrition development.
Ethiopian delegation participated in the summit and the country presented the implementation of the goals set at the 2021 conference in Tokyo, Japan, and announced the food and nutrition systems and food security pact implementation targets it has set for the period 2026 to 2030.
State Minister of Health, Dr. Dereje Duguma noted during the summit that the government has continued to strengthen its commitment to investing in food systems, human resource development and achieving national and international development goals through creating enabling environment and allocating resources.
He said that in recent years, the government has invested heavily from its regular budget to implement the Food and Nutrition Strategy and the Food Security Commitment, and has achieved promising results.
He also said that the government is implementing programs such as the Food and Nutrition Strategy, School Feeding, Green Development and others that contribute significantly to the improvement of food and nutrition systems, and that these activities will continue to be strengthened.
“We are implementing the Seqota Declaration by the year 2030. The Seqota Declaration Expansion Phase (2021-2025) is being implemented in 240 woredas since 2021 and expanded to 334 woredas this year.
During the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Japan 2021 summit, Ethiopia has made a commitment entitled ‘Accelerate development partners actions that contribute to the attainment of the Nutrition for Growth through reducing all forms of malnutrition.’
To attain the goal of the summit we made measurable progresses in our political and financial commitment goals and contributed in improving the nutritional status of millions of our citizens.
The government and development partners’ joint effort to deliver these actions in the past years has enabled us to prevent worsening of some of the indicators and curb the impact of food price escalation, drought or flooding, conflict and diseases outbreaks on nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women, children and the entire population.
Based on the lessons learned, we prioritized key actions that we will implement to drive the attainment of the N4G Paris 2025 political and financial commitment goals. In this regard, I call upon all food and nutrition implementing sectors, civil society organizations, donors, the UN family, academia, private sectors and other stakeholders to join hands together to effectively implement the prioritized actions to make the N4G Paris 2025 commitment goals a reality by 2030.
Currently, the country is bracing to host the Second UN Food System Summit that will take place in July 2025. Concerning the summit Minister of Agriculture Girma Amente (PHD) said that the country was selected to host the summit during the inaugural event in Rome, Italy, due to its advancing agricultural practices and other achievement. The summit will take place from July 28 to 30, 2025.
Four years ago, Ethiopia developed a food system transformation and nutrition roadmap to align its agricultural systems with key initiatives, including building a climate-resilient economy and implementing school feeding programs. As part of its preparations, Ethiopia aims to showcase its progress through exhibitions, field visits, and experience-sharing activities.
The inter-ministerial committee has agreed on the summit’s content, hosting methods, and the establishment of a technical committee to ensure smooth execution. The summit is expected to unlock investment potential for sustaining transformative food system initiatives and help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to the Minister, Ethiopia is at the forefront of achieving these global goals. The country is actively implementing the Seqota Declaration in 334 districts (woredas) to reduce stunting during the current Ethiopian fiscal year.
The event is also expected to introduce new global approaches to food systems while assessing the progress of collective efforts to monitor commitments and outcomes within national food system pathways. This will be a key in helping to achieve SDG targets and their implementation.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) reviews the performance of member states under African Agricultural Development Program and it has appreciated the commitment of Ethiopia to ensure food security.
Dr. Senait Regasa, Coordinator of Food System Program with IGAD, said that the support is being provided to make the efforts of IGAD member states to make agriculture more resilient to climate change more effective.
She said that the program will increase production and productivity, create market linkages, make agricultural policies more effective, and provide technical support in the management of an organized information system. The work of modernizing agriculture and supporting it with technology will continue to be strengthened the coordinator stressed.
She noted that the region is facing natural and man-made problems, especially agriculture, which is negatively affected by climate change adding that although the countries of the region have a small share in climate change, they have become the main victims of the problem.
She said that the Green Legacy program launched by Ethiopia to address this problem will be an example for others.
Agricultural Transformation Institute Board Chairman Abera Deressa (PhD) told The Ethiopian Herald that ensuring food security is not a choice but an obligation for Ethiopia. Hence, the country has been functioning through formulating rural policy and strategy, which enables to coordinate land resource with human resource.
Agricultural sector has been achieving astonishing achievements in irrigation and livestock developments under the operating initiatives adding that irrigation schemes and coverage has been increasing from time to time and mass number of previously uncultivated lands have been launched to be cultivated under different irrigation programs.
The country has abundant river water, lake water and ground water along with gentle farmers and 32 agro ecological zones, which are suitable for agricultural development though the obtaining agricultural products are low as compared with the potential of the country.
The sector obtained attention very recently following the coming of reform administration in Ethiopia. Hence still now there are agricultural legal frameworks that need adjustments to link agricultural sector with industrial sector, improve working culture, improve nutrition and boost agricultural product and productivity.
The Chairman recommended that the country should work through giving especial attention to reduce Post Harvest Loss adding that the country loses huge amount of production because of harvest handling, packaging and storing.
BY TAMERU REGASA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 23 MAY 2025
