Climate change is increasingly affecting agriculture, making sustainable natural resource management critical for longโterm productivity and resilience. In response, Ethiopia has strengthened communityโled watershed development initiatives to conserve soil and water resources and restore degraded landscapes.
These efforts have delivered encouraging results. More than 38 million hectares of land have been rehabilitated, soil erosion has been significantly reduced, dried lakes revived, and the flow of rivers and springs increased improving soil moisture, fertility, and agricultural productivity nationwide.
According to Mr. Fanosie Mekonen, Lead Executive Officer for Natural Resources Development, Protection, and Utilization at the Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia , these achievements have generated significant economic and diplomatic benefits for the country, while building resilience against climate change.
As a result, Ethiopia has gained strong international recognition and support from partners such as the The World Bank Group and the FAO, particularly through the Green Legacy Initiative and nationwide soil and water conservation programs.
Since the launch of the Green Legacy Initiative in 2019, over 48 billion seedlings have been planted, deforestation has declined sharply, forest cover has doubled, and thousands of jobs especially for youth have been created in watershed development areas.
