ADDIS ABABA — Some 7.6 billion seedlings have been prepared for this year's Green Legacy Program, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has announced, adding that the target is set to plant 150 million seedlings in a single day.
Approached by the Ethiopian Press Agency (EPA), Agriculture State Minister Eyasu Elias (Prof.) stated that some 7.6 billion saplings have been prepared for the current Green Legacy Program at the national level.
The state minister further noted that of the total seedlings, 56% are fruit and firewood with multiple uses. The remaining 44% has also great significance in increasing environmental protection and forest cover.
According to Eyasu (Prof.), it is planned to allocate 1.8 eight hectares of land to plant the prepared saplings and so far 1.71 million hectares of land have been allocated. Some 960,000 hectares of the allocated land have been mapped and anyone can monitor the seedlings from anywhere.
In addition to the preparation of seedlings and land allocation, 5.3 billion wells have been prepared in different areas of the country.
"The pre-launch program of this year's Green Legacy Program is set to be held today in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD). There will be a discussion on the outcomes of the saplings planted in five years in terms of food security, environmental protection, forest cover, and job creation."
He pointed out that the official launch of the nationwide Green Legacy Program will be held on June 29, 2024 in the presence of relevant stakeholders.
The State Minister also said that a program set to be held in the coming August whereby 150 million seedlings are to be planted in a single day. "Efforts are underway to register the amount of land covered by this program, the number of saplings that will be planted, and the number of people participating in the planting in the Guinness World Records."
Ethiopia is planning to triple India's record of planting 50 million saplings in a single day and is working to plant 150 million saplings.
All segments of society are expected to exert overwhelming participation to support Ethiopia in archiving such a milestone, Eyasu (Prof.) appealed.