Somali Region of Ethiopia Plan to Harvest Over 20 Mil Quintals Agricultural Products Next FY

Addis Ababa June 13/2022/ENA/ Somali Regional State of Ethiopia has planned to harvest over 20 million quintals of various agricultural products during the new Ethiopian fiscal year, according to Agriculture Bureau of the region.

Somali Regional State Natural Resource Management Director at Bureau of Agriculture, Badal Kenadid Mohamed made the remark in a press briefing organized to journalists today regarding the activities underway in agriculture sector and efforts to mitigate drought in the region.    

According to him, Somali region is facing recurrent drought and the frequency of drought is increasing year after year.

To mitigate the risk of such disaster, the region has made a plan for the coming Ethiopian fiscal year in collaboration with relevant institutions to drastically increase agricultural production, he said.  

“The region has huge potential for agriculture both rain fed and irrigation. So, taking this advantage, the region has made a plan to increase the size of cultivated land to over 847 thousand hectares over the coming fiscal year in order to harvest more than 20 million quintals,” he stated.  

According to the director, the amount of land to be cultivated shows an increment of 218 percent compared to the previous.

He noted that "the plan will not only able to mitigate risk of drought but also it will help the region  increase the forage of animals so that they can withstand the effect of drought."

In addition to that, the region is also expecting to increase the production and productivity of animal husbandry next fiscal year by enhancing animal health services.

“The region has planned to cultivate various kinds of forage on over 4,300 hectares of land to help prevent the death animals due to drought. We are also going to vaccinate over 21 million animals against various types of diseases. Because sometimes when drought happens, our animals face outbreaks. So we are in the way to protect or reduce this disease.”

According to the plan, some thousands of hectares of land will be developed through irrigation by using the four rivers found in the region.

The necessary preparations including the delivery of agricultural inputs have also been carried out to adequately exploit the upcoming rainy season.

“Lack of awareness among the pastoralists may be a challenge in achieving the target plan but the regional government is committed to do all its best in order to successfully implement the plan,” he stated.