Background

In December 2022, the Ethiopian government convened a national conference on ‘Shaping Ethiopian Agriculture for Greater Impact’ to map the path forward in a renewed commitment towards agricultural transformation and food and nutrition security. These include forging innovative partnerships, public policy, food value chain and livelihood, and on-farm and productive landscape solutions. Moreover, in line with the current Ten Years Development Plan 2021-2030 for Ethiopia, AICCRA is facilitating the scaling of focus areas of agricultural development that include enabling smallholder farmers to access climate-smart innovations and technologies, involving private sector actors in agriculture, building institutional implementation capacity in agriculture, education, and meteorology, creating job opportunities for youth and women, and improving agricultural resilience to climate change effects.

To support this major national call, AICCRA, in conjunction with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Transformation Institute, recently gathered a forum that brought together stakeholders in the public, private, research, development, finance and other relevant sector to show how OneCGIAR and partners’ agricultural innovations are positively impacting smallholder farmers and livestock keepers in Ethiopia. As a OneCGIAR-hosted project at International Livestock Research Institute in Ethiopia, AICCRA Ethiopia is positioned well to accelerate and support key national initiatives that are led by the Ministry of Agriculture, National and Regional Agricultural Research Institutes, Ethiopian universities and both international and national development partners. Among them include major World Bank-funded and Ministry of Agriculture-implemented nationwide projects such as the Second Agricultural Growth Project, Second Resilient Landscapes and Livelihoods Project, Livestock and Fisheries Sector Development Project, and Lowlands Livelihood Resilience Project.

Furthermore, AICCRA and partners contribute to landmark initiatives and strategies of Ethiopia, including the Ethiopian Climate-Resilient Green Economy, National Adaptation Plan, Ethiopian Climate-Smart Agriculture Roadmap, Digital Ethiopia 2025, Digital Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services (DAEAS) Roadmap 2030 and Yelemat Tirufat. 

AICCRA's work in Ethiopia

In line with the ‘Shaping Ethiopian Agriculture for Greater Impact’ key takeaways in agricultural reform, food systems transformation and the role of research and development in the sector, AICCRA Ethiopia has continued forging ground-breaking partnerships to deploy the knowledge, innovation, and technology needed for effective climate information services and climate-smart agriculture in Ethiopia. The project has partnered with numerous public, private and development organizations to provide dependable climate information services and climate-smart agriculture approaches.  

The project aims to boost the technical, institutional, and human capacity of national institutions and other vital stakeholders, enabling them to efficiently implement validated technology and innovation packages. Furthermore, the project extends support to community leaders and farmers' groups to ensure that they can make well-informed decisions. 

About the Public Forum

The public forum serves as a platform to showcase AICCRA and partners’ engagement in this national priority by showcasing some of the joint achievements and impacts made to realize a transformed agricultural and food sector in Ethiopia. 

Share stories: The forum will create a platform for diverse stakeholders, including the government, the private sector, and farmer representatives, among others, to share their stories. This will enable participants to reflect on the value and impact of World Bank investment channeled through AICCRA, fostering a collective understanding of the program's efficacy and relevance.

Showcase impact of partnerships: The forum will provide a stage to highlight the successful partnerships, achievements realized, and the impacts of the AICCRA in Ethiopia on the livelihoods of crop-livestock farmers. 

Explore how OneCGIAR science addresses critical challenges: The forum will enable the promotion of scalable and actionable evidence-based science related to climate-smart agriculture and climate information services. By leveraging OneCGIAR research, participants will gain valuable insights into innovative approaches and technologies that promote sustainable agricultural practices, enhancing climate resilience and adaptive capacity.

Foster connections and support: The public forum will also provide a platform for stakeholders to explore potential connections and avenues for supporting or collaborating with relevant initiatives and programs working in agriculture in Ethiopia. International development and finance partners, private sector actors, research institutes and public sector players will have an engagement platform to inform, inspire and call into question some of the opportunities and challenges in the agriculture and food sector in the context of climate change in Ethiopia.

Media enquiries

For further information and media enquiries, please contact Brook Tesfaye Makonnen (AICCRA Ethiopia Communications Lead) at brook.tesfaye@cgiar.org