Ethiopia Plans to Cultivate 4.6M Hectares to Boost Food Production

Ethiopia, 14 December 2025 — Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture has announced plans to cultivate 4.6 million hectares of land through irrigation and natural resource conservation initiatives to boost security.

The Director of Natural Resource Development and Utilisation at the Ministry, Fanose Mekonnen, said that protecting natural resources and expanding irrigation has become a widely adopted practice within communities, contributing to food security and restoration of degraded lands.

“Approximately, 4.6 million hectares of land will be developed through 21,000 irrigation schemes, with communities required to actively participate in the campaign, as natural resource conservation is critically important for addressing climate change and maintaining environmental balance,” Mekonnen said.

He noted that the nationwide campaign on natural resource conservation and irrigation development is set to officially begin next month, with full preparations already underway.