Round three of Ethiopia’s national greening initiative kicked off a couple of days back at a launching ceremony that was presided by Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed and prominent federal and regional government officials. This year, the nation intends to plant more than 6 billion tree seedlings which among others include fruit trees. In addition, according to the Prime Minister, Ethiopia has already prepared more than 1 billion trees to be shared with the neighboring countries of Kenya and Djibouti as a pilot program for greening Africa pursuant to Agenda 2063.
Despite the global conspirators that are out to disrupt the normal development programs of the country and the upcoming election, the nation has completed all the necessary preparation to once again dress the country with the 3rd round of national tree planting campaign. It is to be recalled that the year 2011 marked a nodal point in Ethiopia’s economic development strategy. In fact, it denoted a decisive paradigm shift from the country’s conventional development strategy to climate resilient green economic development. This was a bold initiative that was taken by Ethiopia after a detailed research on the state of affairs of the country’s economic situation through time.
Ethiopia formulated the CRGE Policy and strategy primarily because of several factors. Fossil fuel-based energy utilization proved to be not only expensive taking away a huge amount of the country’s net income but also because it contributed to the escalation pollution particularly in the urban centers of the country. Besides, fossil fuel based economy is very expensive for country’s like Ethiopia which do not produce oil. Nonetheless, fluctuations in global oil prices have continued to drain the hard-earned foreign exchange earnings.
Apart from its national significance as a viable and sustainable economic strategy, the strategy is already contributing to Africa’s regional development strategy as it is envisaged in Agenda 2063 and The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which was deliberated on various UN sponsored forums. Ethiopia’s full participation inn COPWE 1 and 2 demonstrated the strong commitment that Ethiopia has exhibited in linking CRGE with global efforts in reducing global carbon emission to avoid the imminent dangers of global warming.
Ethiopia’s economic development program was redesigned based on agricultural modernization which would promote livestock and food production, effectively protecting and reestablishing the forest resource of the country, developing renewable energy resources to produce electric power for expansion of industries. In general, the significance of the CRGE strategy of Ethiopia is based on turning the natural capital into other forms of capital without negatively interfering into the natural balance of the eco system but in fact contributing to the natural balance of nature
In terms of fighting global warming through participatory national soil and water conservation campaigns, every year, more than a 30 million of the population in rural areas of the country are engaged in massive rehabilitation of degraded lands and mountain ranges of the country. As this campaign is conducted every year, Ethiopia, through the CRGE strategy is making commendable contributions in reversing the hazards of climate change way before the international community has started taking actions in the area. The country has also been conducting a number of projects aimed at reducing carbon emission at the national level.
REDD+ is one of the four pillars of the CRGE strategy with an abatement potential of 130 MtCO2 e and contributing significantly towards achieving a carbon neutral economy by 2030. Ethiopia initiated a readiness preparation proposal (R-PP) in April 2010 and got it approved in October 2012. The country obtained a readiness fund, USD 3.6 million, from the FCPF of the World Bank. Additional USD 10 million readiness supports were provided by the government of Norway and UK with the World Bank as financial trustee. Ethiopia’s REDD+ readiness phase was launched in January 2013.
The scope of REDD+ in Ethiopia will include activities aim at reducing emission from deforestation; reducing forest degradation, forest conservation, sustainable forest management, and the enhancement of carbon stocks. As part of the earlier activities of afforestation and reforestation (A/R) indifferent parts of Ethiopia, the ‘+’ aspect of REDD+ was given special attention in future activities. A/R activities that will be included in the REDD+ mechanism (as carbon stock enhancement) provided incentives to regenerate forests in previously deforested areas. Ethiopia’s
The last two national campaigns were a dress rehearsal for the third round of greening the country with better preparedness and precision. In accordance to the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution issued by the Government of Ethiopia, the country intends to limit net greenhouse gas to 145 Mt Co2e by the year 2030. The current campaign in which more than 30 million Ethiopians would participate coincides with the second filling of GERD which is one of the major projects intended to promote Ethiopia’s green economy policy and the 6th National Election.
What major economic advantages can Ethiopia get from implementing the national tree planting campaign? I would mention only few of them. Climate change has always threatened the food security efforts of the country through interchangeable occurrence of drought and flooding. By regulating the rainfall pattern in the country, extensive forest coverage will help to ascertain better precipitation for the development of the agriculture sector as the main source of food in Ethiopia.
Planting trees, if properly managed can provide employment opportunities both for rural and urban youth as a means of generating income for their livelihood. For instance, if the youth are organized into cooperatives that produce fruits, they can sell their products on agreed price to nearby agro-industrial parks.
Millions of children in Ethiopia are still suffering from micro-nutrient malnutrition which could have been avoided by improving the dietary intake of children through supplementary feeding of fruits and vegetables. Planting fruit trees at the backyard can at least help to generate income for poorer families and can also help to improve family food security status.
Tree planting has proved to be an important contributor to the restoration of surface water resources including springs and dried up brooks. Restoration of wild life resources is another advantage that newly planted trees can bring in the long run. Furthermore, trees planted particularly in the highland areas of the country are instrumental for soil and water conservation schemes and watershed management in areas closer to the country’s major hydro-electric dams.
In general, tree planting is a fundamental activity that can effectively abolish the alienation between man and Mother Nature in Ethiopia. As part of the implementation of the CRGE policy and strategy, GERD was commissioned in the same year in which the CRGE policy and strategy was issued. The major elements of the county’s carbon free economy targeted for 2030 is therefore not limited to the afforestation program but also includes developing a carbon free energy sector that would be the basis for energizing the entire economic sectors in the country. Examples include the Addis Ababa – Djibouti Railway System, the Addis Ababa Light Railway Transport and numerous projects that use hydroelectric power generated from the dams across the country.
With the acceleration of the national reform program and the launching and implementation of a Home Grown Ten Years National Economic Plan, the positive economic benefits to be gained from the annual national tree planning campaigns are expected to be maximized much more.
BY SOLOMON DIBABA
The Ethiopian Herald May 26/2021
