The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is committed to support efforts of the Ethiopian government to make sure that the agriculture sector is performing to its full potential, FAO Representative in Ethiopia, Farayi Zimudzi said.

The representative told ENA that FAO’s main purpose is to support member states such as Ethiopia in the agriculture sector to ensure that agri-food systems are not only sustainable, but they are productive.

FAO has been implementing a four year program framework in Ethiopia that covers from a period from 2020 to 2025, which is very much rooted in the strategic priorities of the government of the country in the agriculture sector, she elaborated.

She said “we are focusing on ensuring that production and productivity is improved. We are also focusing on ensuring that issues around agri-food systems in general are also supported to be more sustainable and vibrant.”

According to the representative, FAO is in Ethiopia to provide the necessary support with a view to making sure that the agriculture sector is performing to its full potential.

Moreover, Zimudzi stated that FAO is looking at supporting the management of natural resources as agriculture depends on natural resources, the soil, the forests, water, and other resources to be there and managed in a sustainable manner.

In this regard, she noted Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative that focuses on planting of trees to make sure that the country is green for the benefit of its people.

The initiative is being implemented in Ethiopia for the last four years with the objective to mitigating the challenges of climate change and ensuring food security by increasing the nation’s forest coverage.

“The Green Legacy is an ambitious program, I think probably unprecedented on the African continent and perhaps even globally, and it’s really good to see the effort and the focus that is going towards this program. I was fortunate to participate in some of the activities in the last few weeks in terms of supporting the initiative,” according to her.

Part of the work that FAO does is also around forestry and agroforestry in addition to other aspects like agronomy, plant protection and production, Zimudzi added.

“We have ongoing efforts to work together with the government in supporting those initiatives and we continue to be committed to ensure that we will work together with all stakeholders including the government in terms of making sure that the green legacy is a success because the future of Ethiopia and the future of the planet depends on such initiatives and we need to support them.”

FOA is also engaged the prevention of natural disasters such as droughts, outbreaks of diseases and pests that affect the agriculture sector, the representative indicated.

“Currently, we are working together with the Ministry of Agriculture and various regions in terms of responding to this. There is a desert locust issue that we are also working together with partners and the government,” she noted.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency