Of late, Ethiopia is passing through challenges and pressures both internally and externally. The major cause of this pressure is the war undertaking in the northern part of the country waged by the terrorist TPLF group based in Tigray against northern command of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and now escalated to the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions.
Responding to the national call from the government to defend the country, citizens and patriots from all walks of life are presenting themselves to stand in solidarity for the sovereignty of the country. As a result, citizens from all sects of the community including farmers are marching to the war front. Due to this, many farmers especially in the surrounding of the war zones are unable to engage in their farming chores.
In the rainy season, it is known that Ethiopian farmers become busy to get agricultural products from their land as most of them use the traditional ways of farming which is rain dependent in most parts of the country. After the war burst out in the country in November 2020, most people are affected by the war. Some of them who live in the war zones are displaced. According to the official page of the Office of The Prime Minister, there are also major costs in terms of agricultural output and further social and economic progress. Many farmers went to war leaving their land and families behind after the national call from the government as it is a law enforcement operation.
Previously, it was reported that the Ministry of Agriculture has targeted to harvest over 375 million quintals of crops this year. To this end, around 13 million hectares of land is expected to be ploughed. In order to hit the target, the ministry has been doing different activities in collaboration with the responsible stakeholders. The Ministry has been engaged in many actions in order to achieve its plan by providing the necessary inputs including selected seeds and fertilizers to the farmers from early stages of the agriculture process up to now.
Having a stay with The Ethiopian Herald, Germame Geruma, the Ministry’s Agriculture Development Sector representative, discussed on the plans and achievements of the Ministry. He said: “Our plan is to get 374.6 million quintals in crop production. In the course of the fiscal year, the Ministry has taken various responsibilities like creating awareness for the farmers, educating them, providing materials, and other agriculture related actions to make the plans come true. At this time, more than 12.3 million hectare of land is covered with crops. 96 percent of the plan has been achieved. There are crops that will be ploughed in the late rainy season. This means there are regions that get rain in early September, so that their production will be a little bit late. Tis achievement is registered because of the wise usage of fertilizers. Also, the government has distributed over 14 million quintals of select seeds to all farmers in every corner even though there is unrest in the country.”
Furthermore, Germame said that it is crystal clear that there are regions specially Tigray, North Amhara, and Afar that are highly affected by the war. However, according to the plan, the rest of the regions including Amhara, Oromia, Sidama, Benishangul, Somali, and South Nations Nationalities and Peoples are doing well in the agriculture sector.
The representative was asked about the war affected regions and their achievements. In response, he said that in Tigray region, earlier to the evacuation of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) from the region, around 50 woredas had started plughing and preparing their land for farming. At that time, even the government had provided select seeds and enough fertilizers to the farmers better than before, but following the evacuation of the national army, it was hard to get information about those woredas.
About the rest of war affected areas, in North Wollo, almost 75 percent of the plan was achieved. The reason for the rest 25 percent is the farmers couldn’t finish what they started in preparing their land for production because they went to the war. It is all about covering their land by seeds. Besides, according to the information from the Office of the Prime Minister, the terrorist TPLF killed a number of livestock including those serve for farming that are basic assets of livelihood of the residents In North Wollo, Gondar and Afar areas. In Afar, in Kilbet Rasu Zone, Berhale woreda, TPLF attacked public institutions like schools, government district offices, health centers, water reservoirs and civilian residences.
This is true for areas like South and North Gondar in which 95 percent and 85 percent of achievement were registered respectively, Waghimra has achieved 60 percent and Benishangul, except two woredas, has started production. From this data, over 275 thousand hectare of land is not ploughed because of the unrest and people do not feel secure in the areas, the representative said.
In one of the most war affected region, Tigray, over 900 thousand hectares of land is out of production because of the war. As to the Ministry of Agriculture, Germame said: We have planned and discussed about the possibilities on how the government would compensate this lose in the war zones, so we are aggressively doing our part to fix it. In the next two or three weeks if peace restored, we will start our job in the rest of war affected areas like Waghimra and North and South Gondar. The ministry has conducted preliminary research on the consequences and aftermath of the war on the agriculture sector, and we concluded that there will not be as such production scarcity in the coming year.”
Germame added that it is obvious there will be pressure in the coming year because of the war. Fortunately, Ethiopians have three crop production terms. These are the autumn season, winter or the rainy season, in addition to irrigation system. As soon as this rainy season ends, irrigation will be started soon so that it will be easy to compensate what was lost in the rainy season. This helps the country get production at least twice a year. “There have also been individuals, who might encounter challenges because of the war, but as a nation, we have prepared well and we expect to have better achievement,” he stated.
The representative also remarked that they are very amused after they have observed the lands of the farmers who are engaged in the war. He said that they have witnessed that farmers who haven’t gone to the war and stayed at their place have been looking after the lands of the farmers who are in the war front. This kind of deeds and supporting one another is appreciated and promoted. In order to take care of the planted seeds, every responsible stakeholder from the federal to the woreda level has been intervened and supported the farmers. Even in the future, the ministry plans to work with investors so as to use mechanization to help the farmers in the time of harvest.
Besides, Germame said that the government is responsible to support every citizen in the country specially the ones who are affected by the war. For instance, over 500 thousand people are internally displaced from their village in Amhara region; there are also farmers whose cattle were killed by the terrorist group.
Therefore, every stakeholder from the federal government to the region and woredas should work together to help these people rehabilitate in all aspects. The ministry also plans to support the farmers and provide rental tractors to make them more productive in every aspect, Germame said. Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed (PhD) also tweeted on his official page, “By intensifying our agricultural productivity, we move closer to food self- sufficiency.”
BY DANIEL ALEMAYEHU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD 14 SEPTEMBER 2021
