ATI working on ensuring food security, boosting production

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BY HAILE DEMEKE

ADDIS ABABA – The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) which has been renamed as Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) announced that it is working on boosting production and productivity so as to ensure food security since its establishment 2010.

Delivering Opening remark at the ATI launching event, Agriculture Minister Oumer Hussein said that the event is timely as Ethiopia is implementing a significant structural reform and the 2030 Development Plan. According to him, for the past years the institute has achieved many successes especially in boosting production and productivity which is a one the core objective of the institute.

It was learnt that the use of cluster farming system has reached over 4 million hectares of land which includes many farmers. The farmers have also technological support to address problems related farming.

The activity needs to be continued strongly and cluster farming is testament for the achievement in the sector and crucial to avoid shortage of production, he said, adding that the institute has achieved visible achievement and cluster farming is demonstration of ensuring food security and national development.

“With the current proclamation, the institute can do research as part of analytics work especially on systems and policies. However, we don’t do what is being done by EIAR. Instead, we would like to have unique value add and support the research, extension and marketing systems to enhance transformation.”

As to the minister, the agriculture sector requires technological changes and minimum and sustained investment to produce results that can transform the food system of the country on a sustainable basis. Accordingly launching ATI is a signal of the importance and Ethiopia can complement its efforts by using existing and emerging opportunities of digital technologies that the Ministry is promoting.

“We are confident that with such well-designed strategic plan, we can achieve food security for all and the goal must go beyond reform and changes of names that we are launched and firm actions are required to achieve 2030 development plan of Ethiopia, 2063 aspiration of AU and the 2030 Agenda of the UN (SDG2).”

ATI General Director Mandefro Nigussie (PhD) said that in order to attain agricultural transformation, ATI will operate as a systems integrator to build better research, extension and marketing systems for the sector to contribute to the overall economic growth.Cluster farming activity will be among the core plan of the institute, he added.

Presenting the journey of ATI Deputy Director General Yifru Tafesse (PhD) said that despite the promising changes ATI has noticed, the sector is challenged with various problems that challenge the smallholder farmers and addressing such challenges and commercializing the sector could lead Ethiopia to further exploit its agriculture potential in crops, livestock and others.

The ATI works closely with concerning stakeholders on agricultural transformation agenda, a set of prioritized interventions designed to unlock systemic agricultural bottlenecks by enhancing the capability of key stakeholders and institutionalizing key interventions driving sustainable change.

Since its establishment, ATI has made significant contributions to the agriculture sector, and positively impacting Ethiopia in the past 10 years. To date, it has received resources from the government and several development agents and implemented about 48 innovative and large-scale strategic projects, conducted about 250 actions oriented strategic studies, lifted over 300,000 people out of poverty, contributed about 1.7 billion USD to the Ethiopian economy.

The Ethiopian Herald July 1/2022

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