Ethiopia: Nat'l ID Program Expedites Agricultural Digitization

18 October 2023
The Ethiopian Herald (Addis Ababa)
By Tewodros Kassa

The ongoing national ID program seeks to expedite the country's agricultural digitization and to enhance the role of technology in the sector, experts in the area said.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) have jointly hosted a forum on a national strategy to boost climate-smart agriculture. The event is taking place at the ILRI campus under the theme "Shaping

Agriculture for Greater Impact in Ethiopia" from 15-20 October 2023.

Speaking at the occasion, Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute Deputy CEO YifruTafesse (PhD) said that the Ethiopian government has been taking various measures to digitize the agriculture sector. In this regard, the effective implementation of the national ID program is important to synchronize digital agricultural services and improve technology's contribution in the agricultural sector.

Accordingly, farmers are now accessing experts' recommendations through hotlines and other digital instruments and improving product and productivity. It is estimated that Ethiopia has more than 19 million household farmers.

In neighboring Kenya, there are six million farmers and they are digitized and geo-referenced with their available land resources and other assets through integrating with latest agricultural technologies. Therefore, pertinent stakeholders are working jointly to expedite agricultural digitization in Ethiopia and to improve agricultural practices, the CEO added.

According to him, integrated partnership of all stakeholders is fundamental to transform the sector, he said.

AICCRA Program Director Ana Maria Loboguerrero (PhD) said that the center stands for accelerating the impact of CGIAR climate research for Africa. "Our main objective is to enhance access to climate-smart agricultural technologies and climate information services in Africa. Currently, we are working in six African countries namely; Ethiopia, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Zambia, and Kenya.

In addition, the center extends services at regional level in West and South Eastern Africa.

She further highlighted the great importance of supporting the AICCRA project through integrated partnerships among stakeholders to pass the CGIAR scientists' innovations to smallholders African farmers and benefit the latter from latest technologies.

AICCRA Ethiopia Country Coordinator Dawit Solomon (PhD) emphasized the role of Private-Public-Partnership (PPP) to transform the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the country. AICCRA projects forge ground-breaking partnerships to deploy the knowledge, innovation, and technology needed for effective climate information services and climate-smart agriculture in Ethiopia.

So far, the project benefited 420,076 smallholder farmers in the country, Dawit remarked.

AICCRA is a project that helps to deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. It is led by the Alliance of Biodiversity and CIAT and supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank, it was learned.

Read the original article on Ethiopian Herald.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 The Ethiopian Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.