Green Legacy Model for Combating Climate Change, Ensuring Food Security: FAO Representative

Addis Ababa, September 4, 2025 (ENA) – Ethiopia’s historic Green Legacy is a model initiative for other African countries combating climate change impacts and ensuring food security, FAO Representative Farayi Zimudzi said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, the representative in Ethiopia noted that preserving and managing trees and other natural resources is essential to benefit future generations.

She commended the efforts of the Government of Ethiopia in terms of planting trees and managing those trees to ensure survival and benefit the people.

“It is good to see that the Government of Ethiopia has made this a priority, and as FAO, we are very happy to continue to support these efforts.”

Besides, it is good to see the lots of effort in planting fruit trees that ensure people have not only food to eat but also to sell, she pointed out.

Stating that the initiative is essential in preserving soil, Zimudzi said managing the soil will continue to be a source of contributing to production through agriculture.

For the representative, managing soil resources, water resources, and planting more trees is a critical element for food security and also for people to have good lives.

 

Regarding the need for collaboration to combat climate change at the continental level, Zimudzi stressed the need to do more as a continent in terms of ensuring not only managing the effects of climate change, but also preventing those impacts.

According to her, that just does not depend on Africa alone as the continent contributes comparatively very little to the climate impacts.

“We are much more vulnerable than other places in the world. So, the onus is on us to make sure that we do what is in our power by investing massively in efforts to make sure that our development is climate-proof, and we do it at scale, because doing small things is not going to change much.”

The representative also emphasized the need to combine efforts to maximize impact, rather than doing little fragmentation, urging development actors and governments to come together to combine and consolidate efforts.

Advocating for more funding is critical for Africa to receive the resources that it needs, Zimudzi said, adding that advancing national endeavors and learning from each other are also essential.

“It is good to see the good examples where we see here in Ethiopia, the Green Legacy initiative being a case in point where there is massive national investment towards a very clear strategic focus for impact.”

 

Ethiopia has planted over 48 billion trees since the launch of the initiative during the past 7 years. 

Currently, the country is hosting the Second Climate Week of 2025 that precedes the Second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) from September 8-10.