The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Experiences with mainstreaming biodiversity and development in Ethiopia

UN Biodiversity COP 13Cancun, Mexico

Dr. Gemedo Dalle, MinisterMinistry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Introduction

• “Improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems.”

• Sustainable human development is about living on Earth without taking more than can be naturally replaced. – It is about good health, good living conditions and

long-term wealth creation for everybody.

Mainstreaming in Ethiopia:

• Constitution (Article 44)– Environmental Rights • All persons have the right to a clean and healthy

environment.

• Biodiversity policy• In order to plan, develop and reorient biodiversity

conservation and development-related activities in the country and create an integrated national biodiversity program, a functional national biodiversity networking system will be created

• Ethiopia has developed and started implementation of the Sectoral Climate Resilience Strategies for Green Economy

• climate resilience strategies for the agriculture, forestry, water, irrigation and energy sectors

CRGE

• Follow a green growth path that fosters development and sustainability

• The ambition is to build a green economy• Pillars – Agriculture– Forest– Power– Transport, industrial sectors and buildings

Pillars

• Agriculture – Improving crop and livestock production practices

for higher food security and farmer income while reducing emissions

• Forestry– Protecting and re-establishing forests for their

economic and ecosystem services, including as carbon stocks

Strategic Plan

• The strategic plans are a part of the Ethiopia’s strategic vision • to build a Climate Resilient Green Economy

(CRGE) in response to the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation and • to leverage the opportunities of green

growth while reaching middle-income status by 2025.

NBSAP: IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

• EBI overall responsibility for coordinating implementation of the agreed upon actions by all the stakeholders

• For every target and action lead agency and collaborating institutions have been identified

Ethiopian experiences in mainstreaming: Ministerial level

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change– Forest sector development plan

• Ministry of Agriculture and Natural resources– Watershed management (SLM Programme) and

rehabilitation/restoration of degraded ecosystems• Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries

– Included many targets that address conservation and sustainable use of local breeds (e.g. controlled cross breeding and selection and improvement of local breeds)• Community based animal breeding

Ethiopian experiences in Institutional setups: Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute

• EBI is nationally mandated for the implementation of:– Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),– International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources

for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA),– Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources

and the Fair and Equitable benefit Sharing Arising from their Utilization and

– IPBES.

Major achievements - Conservation

• 112,266 accessions of 1021 species conserved in National Gene Bank– Crop: 69, 547  accessions  of 52 species -

cold room (-10 and +4 OC) (cereals, pulses, oil crops)

• 7564 accessions of 660 species – in Field Gene Banks

– 6680 accessions - coffee, root and tuber crops, spices -field gene banks.

Major achievements - CropOn-farm conservation• 23 community seed banks have been established + crop conservation associations are established (legal certificates).

• Five additional CSBs are under construction

• Farmers’ varieties  of 21 crop species have been conserved in the CSBs and on-farm conservation sites.

• Farmers’ varieties - lost from the hands of the farmers were restored from the national gene bank.

Major achievements - Crop• 51150 accessions have been multiplied • 15000 accessions have regenerated   • 7250 accessions of field and horticultural crops have been

characterized using morphological traits. • More than 4000 accessions have been analysed for nutrient

content (protein, fiber, fat, total mineral, and water content)

Crop type Variety EBI accession Barley Agegnehu Acc. 218950

Shire Acc.3297 Estayish Acc.218963 Dimtu Acc.3369

Emmer wheat Commesso Acc-224881-2 Sinana Acc-216074-1

Sorghum Chare Acc.222880 Raya Acc.22287 x kat369-1 Miskir Acc.69441 x p-9401

Field pea Urji Acc.32615-1 Tullu-Dimtu Acc.32640-1 Tulllu-shenen Acc.2121-1

Noog Ginchi-1 Acc.227187 Shambu-1 Acc.228423

Linseed Kassa-2 Acc.10306 X Chilalo14/3 Tolle CI2698 x Acc. 13611/B Berene Acc. 013627

•177, 470  accessions  have been distributed to different users - Research, Breeding

Major achievements - Crop

Extension packages

• Extension packages for agrobiodiversity species developed

Market linkagesCooperative's Fiber Marketing-new income

Farmers field day

Conclusion• Living in Harmony with Nature

• People depend on healthy ecosystems for the very fundamentals of life: clean air, fresh water, healthy soil, and crop pollination to name just a few.

• Conservation must be a common agenda for all nations to ensure healthy future generations and sustainable long-term development.

• Participatory conservation, new products from biodiversity to improve livelihoods of local communities

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Thank You For Your Attention