Ethiopia shares experiences on efforts to ensure food security through modern agriculture at Feed Africa summit

Addis Ababa, January 25, 2023 (FBC) – Ethiopia’s efforts to ensure food security through modern agriculture has received plaudits from the Continental Forum, as a paradigm for the rest of African countries.

A continental summit, themed “FEED AFRICA: FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND RESILIENCE, focused on ensuring food security and self-sufficiency is being held in Dakar, Senegal.

The Dakar Summit on Agriculture and Agribusiness (Dakar II): Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience, is an action-oriented summit aiming to unleash Africa’s food production potential.

At the summit, the FDRE Minister of Planning and Development, Fitsum Asefa, shared the results brought about by the first national food and agriculture supply program, which was implemented from 2016 to 2022.

The Minister tabled a presentation to the leaders of various countries and development partner organizations regarding Ethiopia’s efforts in the agriculture sector.

During the first implementation of the African Development Bank program, Ethiopia’s endeavours to ensure food security in wheat production and the results it achieved were also presented and discussed.

Furthermore, it was stated that a second round of national food and agriculture supply program called COMFAC will be implemented for five years from 2023 to 2027.

During the second implementation of the program, Ethiopia is planning to focus on increasing the wheat cultivation, supply of poultry and eggs, and to increase the production of soybeans for food oil in addition to meeting domestic demand.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Development, 2.84 billion USD is needed to implement the 5-year plan. The Ministry added that the finance will be covered from the government budget, private sector participation and support from development partners.

During the discussion among heads of state and ministers, Fitsum said “We shouldn’t keep selling our agricultural products raw. We should be able to process them and create jobs for our youth.”

“The resilience of our Food system depends heavily on our ability to create strong backward-Forward linkages and that is when we can be able to create enough decent jobs for our youth”. she added.

According to CGIAR, the Dakar Summit, organized by the African Development Bank under the patronage of President of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall, brought together more than 1,500 people, including heads of state, government ministers of economy, finance, agriculture and related sectors, as well as private sector stakeholders, multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations, leading academics and scientists.

The summit is expected to mobilize political commitment, government resources, development partners, and private sector financing towards achieving food security in Africa in the face of climate change.

The Africa Food Summit Dakar Summit II is scheduled to continue until January 27, 2023.