Meeting reviews green legacy initiative, preparations for planting season

Addis Ababa, April 13, 2020 (FBC) -Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed today met with key stakeholders to review the national green legacy initiative and the preparations for planting this Ethiopian rainy season.

Present at the meeting were national steering committee members, technical committee members, regional chief administrators and influential personalities that will be engaged in public mobilization, according to office of the Prime Minister.

Citing the key success factors from last year’s planting season as great public mobilization, active engagement of government leadership, institutional coordination and stakeholders’ participation, the need to build on these good experiences was indicated.

While the target for this year is to plant 5 billion trees, preparations to ready the required number of seedlings has been underway since the end of last year’s planting season.

The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of continuity and finishing what has been started, indicating the green legacy initiative overall goal of planting 20 billion trees within the next few years.

He also shared the status of the Addis Ababa greening projects which are linked to promoting urban tourism and creating a livable city.

The Minister of Agriculture, Oumer Hussien, also provided a briefing to the Prime Minister and regional chief administrators on the national agriculture sector response plan to COVID19.

He also told the participants about the potential for cultivating urban agriculture and status and way forward in responding to desert locust in Ethiopia.