Germany pledges 96 million euro to Ethiopia

The government of Germany pledges 96 million Euro for the next three years period of bilateral development cooperation. German Embassy in Ethiopia said the support from Germany through governmental, non-governmental, and multilateral institutions has been increasing in recent years. The statement said Germany will continue its development cooperation in the priority areas of Engineering Capacity Building Program (ecbp), Urban Governance, and Sustainable Land Management (SLM) with 75 million Euros.
It also pledged 20 million Euro for co-financing of Protection of Basic Services (PBC) and an additional one million Euro for the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). According to the statement ecbp, which aims at capacity building for sustainable economic development, is very much at the heart of the bilateral cooperation and will continue to be the biggest bilateral program.
The release said Germany expects that the new CSO law being drafted by the Ethiopian Government, will allow German and other International NGOs to continue their positive contributions for the development of Ethiopia and enable them to continue to support the implementation of development programs successfully.

Bureau distributing over 1 million quintals fertilizer

Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau of Amhara State said it has been distributing over one million quintals of fertilizer among farmers. Activities are underway to enhance agricultural production in 2000/2001 E.C. crop season. The fertilizer, meant for the coming crop season, are imported with over 856 million birr loan obtained from the regional government. The fertilizer is being distributed to farmers through cooperatives.
The bureau has plans to distribute 170, 000 quintals select seed. Currently, over 45,000 quintals of select seed of maize, barely, wheat and beans have already been distributed among farmers. The bureau envisaged boosting production for six consecutive years in the state. It has plans to harvest over 80 million quintals of crops from 3.7 million hectares of land.

Ethiopia's irrigation said capable of expansion

The total irrigation potential of Ethiopia is in the range of 3-4 million hectares while the land so far developed is about 5 percent.
State Minister of Water Resources Adugna Jebessa gave this latest figure at a two-day workshop organized by an Israeli firm under the theme: Water Management and Ethiopian Agriculture. Adugna said the country is endowed with abundant surface and ground water resources, but not yet fully developed to contribute to the socio-economic transformation of the country.
"We all have irreplaceable roles to play in improving the current low-level irrigation practice in Ethiopia." The two day workshop organized by NETAFIM, an Israeli company working in modern drip irrigation equipment supply, will deliberate on major new trends in irrigation of different field crops in Ethiopia.
Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia, Yaacov Amitai for his part said the story of NETAFIM, characterized by sheer closeness between applied science and farming, reflect the success story of Israel's agriculture as challenges posed by nature drove farmers to apply original scientific solutions.

Workshop on India's role in capacity building in Ethiopia

The Embassy of India organized a workshop on the role of India in Capacity Building in Ethiopia for Sustainable Growth and Development on June 16, 2008, for the benefit of the Standing Committee on Capacity Building of the Ethiopian House of Peoples Representatives. The Standing Committee members headed by Hon'ble Mr. Tekele Tesema attended the function. This event was part of the celebrations of the 60th Anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Ethiopia.
Speaking on the occasion, H.E. Mr. Gurjit Singh, Ambassador of India to Ethiopia outlined the efforts of the Embassy of India and the Government of India in human resources development and capacity building in Ethiopia and highlighted the excellent track record that India has achieved through ITEC programmes, Pan-African e-Network project, Designers Workshop, grant of scholarships, study tour of parliamentary delegations to India and outreach programmes for youth, women and journalists. The speakers shared the important role played by the Indian teachers in educating generations of Ethiopians both in schools and universities. Indian investment efforts in the education sector in Ethiopia and how it could be enhanced were also highlighted.
Ethiopian speakers shared their experience on the giant strides made by India in achieving capacity building goals in SMEs, rural development, cooperative farming, women empowerment etc. and indicated that India's experience could be replicated in Ethiopia for sustainable development of urban and rural population. Some of the speakers indicted that given the socio-economic background and the cultural affinity between the two countries, the Indian experience in capacity building would be the most suitable in the Ethiopian context.
The delegation visited the Black Lion Hospital to view an interactive session of the tele-medicine project between doctors and nurses at the Black Lion hospital with doctors at CARE hospital, Hyderabad. And also visited the Addis Ababa University, to view the tele-education project under the Pan-African e-Network scheme.
After observing these two pilot projects, Honerable Tekele Tesema mentioned that these two projects will eliminate the digital divide between Ethiopia and other nations and will form the backbone of India's capacity building efforts in Ethiopia. (PRESS RELEASE)
Norway gives 50mln Br to drought-affected in Ethiopia
The Norwegian Government is now allocating 50 million birr in humanitarian assistance for people affected by the present drought situation in Ethiopia.
The funding is being channeled through our partners in the UN, the Red Cross and other NGOs that are already working in the country, and that are familiar with its needs, says Raymond Johansen, State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Drought and rising food prices have resulted in a critical situation in several regions of Ethiopia. Last week, the UN warned of widespread food shortages as a result of serious drought and rising food prices. According to the UN, more than three million Ethiopians are in acute need of assistance, and the number of people suffering from malnutrition is increasing.
Even though there has now been some rainfall, important crops have already been lost. The grazing will improve gradually, but it will take time before new crops can be harvested. Our aim is to mitigate the consequences of the humanitarian crisis now affecting people in Ethiopia, says Mr Johansen.
This allocation is additional to the NOK 10 million Norway provided earlier this year in response to the drought. Moreover, Norway has contributed about NOK 10 million in humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia through the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) this year. (Press Release)