Addis Ababa, October 19, 2024 (FBC) – Ethiopian government officials have underscored that ensuring food sovereignty is a matter of national security.
A half-day panel discussion held under the theme: “Boost Productivity, Safeguard Sovereignty” kicked off yesterday in Adama city, Oromia region.
The panel was organized by local newswire service Ethiopian News Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, Disaster Risk Management Commission, and Ethiopian Diaspora Service.
During the panel, Ethiopia’s new Tourism Minister Ms. Selamawit Kassa said food sovereignty should be a manifestation of our national identity.
Media reports working on this should be attractive and linked to national identity, she indicated.
The media should focus on correcting misconceptions and raising awareness, the minister stressed.
She stressed that it is necessary to focus on changing attitudes so that experiences can be broadened instead of reporting events.
The idea of disaster preparedness should be instilled in the regions and family apart from the work done at the national level, Ms. Selamawit added.
Disaster Risk Management Commissioner, Shiferaw Teklamariam said ensuring food sovereignty is a matter of national security.
Attention is being paid to ensure food sovereignty in Ethiopia, the commissioner said, adding that to make this a reality, it requires hard work.
Shiferaw explained that the work to ensure food sovereignty requires a lot of effort and pointed out that there is a favorable situation in the country for this.
The institutional exercises that are being done on this should be increased and strengthened, he added.
Agricultural Transformation Institute Director-General, Mandefro Ngusie who presented an article titled “Food Sovereignty Framework in Ethiopia” explained that food sovereignty is a matter of ensuring self-determination, which is linked to freedom.
He said food sovereignty is linked to freedom and a matter of asserting the capacity for self-determination; he said, underlining that a country that is not self-sufficient in food and dependent on food aid will not have complete independence.
The Director General also revealed that efforts being carried out in Ethiopia to ensure food sovereignty are bearing fruit.
The multi-faceted activities that are being carried out in the agricultural sector starting from the policy reform are capable of achieving food sovereignty, he noted.
He also said favorable conditions have been created in the agricultural sector to ensure food sovereignty.
Productivity should be increased in a sustainable way to ensure food sovereignty, he stressed.