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Addis Ababa April 30/2024 (ENA) The Minister of Irrigation and Lowland Areas, Engineer Aisha Mohammed has announced today that Ethiopia’s modern irrigation infrastructure coverage has surpassed 1.8 million hectares. The Minister made the remark in a 9-month performance report of the current fiscal year she presented to the House of Peoples Representatives today.
Aisha provided detailed insights into the progress made in various areas, including irrigation research design, irrigation infrastructure management, and the execution of research and development plans in lowland and pastoral regions.
Aisha highlighted that the original objective for the fiscal year was to prepare 213,000 hectares of land for farming development.
However, the achieved progress has far exceeded expectations, with over 279,000 hectares already made ready for development within the nine-month period.
Furthermore, the Minister emphasized the significant growth in modern irrigation infrastructure.
In the previous fiscal year of 2015, the coverage stood at 1.5 million hectares, which has now risen to an impressive 1.8 million hectares in just nine months, she said.
Aisha also addressed the creation of employment opportunities through the expansion of the irrigation network.
According to her, the original plan aimed to generate job opportunities for 50,000 citizens within the nine-month time frame, and the implementation has already surpassed this target, benefiting over 84,000 individuals.
Looking ahead to the future, Aisha outlined plans to develop an additional 353,000 hectares by identifying suitable areas for irrigation expansion in the upcoming fiscal year.
The Minister concluded by emphasizing the remarkable progress in modern irrigation development, with the coverage having tripled from 490,000 hectares in 2012.
She expressed the government’s commitment to continued intensive efforts in this field, ensuring further growth and development in the future.