ADDIS ABABA –The Ministry of Agriculture announced a plan to cover an additional 1.2 million hectares of land with major crops to ensure food security.
Isaias Lemma, Crop Development Director at the Ministry told The Ethiopian Herald that the Ministry has planned to cover an additional 1.2 million hectares of land with major in a bid to ensure food security and withstand the impact of COVID-19 on food security.
Besides the plan to withstand the impact of COVID-19 on domestic agricultural productivity and food security, the plan also aims at substituting imports.
Following the plan, the ministry is planning to harvest over 40 million quintals of crop.
“The impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture sector will be felt in the next production year as this year’s harvest has already been collected before the occurrence of the pandemic.”
Previously, over 1.8 million hectares of land has been transferred for investors. Out of this, only 664,000 hectares of land is actually covered with crops. Around 300 to 400, 000 hectares of land is covered with other agricultural products. The remaining land is yet to develop and the Ministry has devised a plan to do so, he noted.
As to him, the discussion is underway with local communities, investors, unions, and others on alternative ways to cultivate undeveloped land. “If these groups fail to develop the land, there is a plan to transfer the land to others.”
“Basically, we have reached an agreement on the plan. The government is committed to providing technical supports to these groups, especially to those groups that hold the land through bank agreement and others.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry is working to support agricultural development especially through contract farming and others.
Besides, the Ministry has sufficient supply of inputs such as fertilizers, seeds and chemicals as additional land is prepared for development and planned to utilize other alternatives.
However, while 80 percent of Ethiopia’s population is agrarian, only 20 percent of them have access to improved seeds.
The Ethiopian Herald May 28, 2020
BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN
