Urgently Required Fertilizers Delivered to Tigray Farmers: FAO

July 21, 2022 (ENA) The first batch of 262 tonnes of fertilizers were delivered to Tigray Region in collaboration with the Federal Government of Ethiopia, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) disclosed.

According to a press release sent to ENA, FAO and partners are also planning to provide 60,000 tonnes of fertilizers to farmers in Tigray region to support crop production starting from next week.

The fertilizers handed over are part of the 19,300 tonnes secured by FAO and partners to provide urgent support to farmers to plant in the Meher planting season, improve crop production, and curb the risk of food insecurity in the region.

“The arrival of the fertilizers in Tigray marks an important step in restoring the capacity of farmers to produce their own food. We will continue to provide support to vulnerable communities,” FAO Representative for Ethiopia Chimimba David Phiri said.

The representative added that FAO, as the Agriculture Cluster Lead Agency, wishes to commend the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ethiopian Agriculture Business Commission and all partners involved for tremendous work in facilitating the delivery of the NPS and urea fertilizers.

"I particularly recognize the support of resource partners for their prompt response to our appeal," he stated.

According to him, FAO and partners are planning to provide 60,000 tonnes of fertilizers to farmers to support crop production.

“Even though time is running out, there is still time to purchase and deliver urea fertilizer, taking advantage of the offer by the Government of Ethiopia to purchase fertilizers at cost price."

A new planting window will open by October when the ‘irrigation season’ will commence. With resources made available thus far, the gap stands at 40 000 MT (the financial gap stands at USD 53 million), the representative elaborated.

With the rainfall outlook foreseen to be favourable in Tigray, the provision of fertilizer offers a crucial and cost-effective way to improve food availability across the region, it was indicated.

Although the window for providing certain seeds is fast closing, there is still time for farmers to receive legume seeds, seedlings for tubers and other planting materials and enable them to take advantage of the favorable rainfall forecasts to produce steady supplies of nutritious foods.

The press release further stated that FAO continues to call for financial, material and technical support to Tigray as well as other areas affected by the conflict, such as Amhara and Afar regions.