Ethiopia has a Nobel Prize and a fast-growing economy. Can it also gain a food secure future?

Published as an Op-Ed on CNBC

Ethiopia is now Africa’s fastest-growing economy, and this week, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in resolving the country’s two-decade-long conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.

But these bright prospects come with risks. It is a country that is still struggling with community strife and cementing the peace-building progress with Eritrea.

This political backdrop of hope and risk mirrors Ethiopia’s future in two other equally critical spheres: feeding its people and protecting its environment. A quickly growing population means more people to feed, and the land and water resources it relies on to grow food are struggling to cope under intensive cultivation, rapid urbanisation and the impacts of climate change.

If Ethiopia does not act quickly to protect and conserve its natural resources, it may struggle to continue its path of progress. But there are some bright signs that the country can  strengthen its leadership in protecting food security for years to come.

Read the full CNBC Africa Op-Ed

This CNBC Op-Ed by WLE Program Director highlights prospects for Ethiopia’s food future, with a chance to scale technologies such as integrated watershed restoration (ICRISAT/WLE), flood harnessing weirs (GIZ/ICRISAT/WLE), state-of-the-art seeds (CGIAR), solar-powered irrigation (IWMI/WLE/CCAFS), and landscape restoration (CIAT/Bioversity/WLE).

WLE’s Commission on Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture will provide a roadmap to ensure farmers in Ethiopia and across the Global South can access – and help improve – these innovations.

CGIAR has worked through and with the support of CGIAR-WLE, GIZ-Germany, ICRISAT, IWMI, World Agroforestry, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, ILSSI, CGIAR Trust Fund, Ethiopian government departments and others on these projects and more.