Initiative to boost food security launched in Ethiopia Initiative to boost food security launched in Ethiopia
Posted on July 29, 2013
A Three-year initiative that will boost household food security and incomes through introduction of high-yielding varieties has been launched in Ethiopia.
The initiative, ‘Seed System Enhancement through Development of Improved Varieties of Maize, Tef, Sorghum, Soybean and Faba bean in Ethiopia', was launched on Monday by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR)
The Alliance for a Green Revolution (AGRA) will invest over US$ 1million to reach directly and indirectly more than 200,000 smallholder farmers in Ethiopia in the new breeding program targeted at five Ethiopian grain crops.
The majority of Ethiopians rely on these key grain crops for their calorie and protein intake, but yields are currently low.
Improved food security
The initiative will help to improve the food security situation through developing and deploying more than 10 improved crop varieties better than varieties on farmers hand and previously released and promoting these among farmers.
It will also build capacity among researchers, extension agents, public-private seed companies and enhance the linkages between all the seed value chain players of target crops.
The initiative will be implemented through various EIAR research hubs/centers at Bako, Debre Zeit, Melkasa, Kulumsa and Pawe.
‘Tackle bottleneck to farmers'
“Ethiopian farmers face a number of constraints - drought, diseases and insect pests - that greatly lower their yields. This initiative will introduce crop varieties that can better withstand these constraints, thereby contributing to improved food security in Ethiopia,” Dr. Adeferis Teklewolde, Crop Research Director at EIAR says.
Director for AGRA's Program for African seed Systems (PASS) which oversees the program, Joe DeVries, said that through the collaboration, 20 tons of breeder and foundation seeds – the basic seed multiplied and sold to farmers – would be availed to seed enterprises annually.
“AGRA is pleased to have this opportunity to work with the Ethiopian Government to tackle a key bottleneck to farmers' productivity,” he says.