Inside Africa: Ethiopia's Plan to Combat Climate Change
Ethiopia is going green with its ambitious plans to plant 5 billion trees, just a drop in the bucket compared to the country’s more long-term plan to plant 20 billion within the next four years as part of the Green Legacy Initiative. Planting for the year began in June to get ahead of the rainy season and is off to a good start, some praising the effort for addressing public health, air quality and climate change. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his work on international cooperation and in resolving a border conflict with Eritrea, launched the initiative to combat deforestation within the country, which has lost a significant amount of its forests due to a growing population. Instead of deforestation, the country is looking to reforestation, an idea that has been explored and implemented in the region by others before.
Before Ahmed was honored with a Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maathai received the prestigious prize for her work on sustainable development, democracy, and peace. Her Green Belt Movement, started in 1977 in Kenya, was first a response to Kenyan women’s struggles when streams were drying up and food security was becoming a problem. Even gathering firewood for fuel and building meant having to travel further and further as the effects of deforestation grew worse. The environmental degradation was revealing socio-economic troubles as well. Maathai encouraged women to battle this environmental issue by coming together to plant and care for seedlings for some monetary compensation. Her work and drive earned her the Nobel Prize in 2004 and, even nearly a decade after her death, the movement continues on. Kenya continues to work to improve local communities and their neighboring ecosystems. Maathai believed that there was a strong connection between people’s environments and their well-being, and many others are hopping on board with this belief.
In 2019, Ahmed claims to have planted 4 billion seedlings in the year with 20 million people coming out to help with mass planting. The survival rate is also impressive and contributes greatly to the initiative’s success. Planting the trees is only half the battle. Nearly a year later, Ahmed makes a statement that public health is connected to the region’s environmental health and even its economical health. He said, “Our Green Legacy Initiative is critical to Ethiopia’s aspirations to build a green and climate resilient economy.”
With a growing population, the need for more land to produce more food increases. It is reported that Ethiopia has lost nearly 97% of its natural forests to make room for more people. Since 1970, the population has made a steady path up the graph with more than 110 million people in 2018. The problem is that with the trees being cleared away, Ethiopia is facing not just disastrous environmental effects but food security issues as well. Unrestricted clearing of forests has negatively impacted the environment all over the East Africa region, even across the world as people look to the ever shrinking forest around the world and climate change.
Deforestation leads to all kinds of environmental issues that could be devastating to a region that relies heavily on its land like in Ethiopia. Desertification, disrupted biodiversity and ecosystems, and soil erosion, which can lead to dangerous landslides. A recent example being a landslide in Kenya which killed at least 29 people when the area was hit by heavy rains. Beyond the global impact of widespread deforestation, the effects can be felt already.
And in Ethiopia where so many of its people are depending on the land for their livelihoods, these negative impacts are something the country cannot afford. Already the region is plagued by sporadic rainfall. Billions of metric tons for fertile soil are lost every year, and if it continues, families could find it hard to make money for food or even grow their own. Like in the northwestern Amhara region of the country, where farmers watched their land get washed away down the side of the mountain. The land grows drier and threatens people’s ways of living. Farmers and pastoralists, who both make up large portions of Ethiopia’s population, are left to worry what support they will receive from their government. The concern for many is displacement as the country hopes to battle environmental degradation by closing off areas people rely on. Some Ethiopian farmers and pastoralists impacted by the climate change and droughts have been displaced, living in camps by the thousands, and uncertain about ever returning home.
Despite the success and the massive number of trees that have been planted in the country and have inspired other countries to push for similar initiatives, similar to how Maathai inspired, the question remains whether planting trees could actually make the impact Ahmed hopes it will make. A United Nations climate report suggests that approximately one billion hectares of trees could work to combat climate change, and Ethiopia obviously sees widespread participation in the mass planting days that contribute to that number, but simply planting trees might not be enough and could potentially cause further damage to already struggling ecosystems if not done correctly. A region known for its biodiversity could lose some of it if non-native, destructive plants are introduced.
Kenya moves forward with its own tree-planting initiatives as does the international organization One Tree Planted, which receives donations for planting trees all over the world, is looking to Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, and Rwanda. It is possible that Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative could be the example other countries look to when looking for ways to battle climate change. Ahmed is certainly calling upon the global community to support Ethiopia’s mission to make the world a greener place.
