Dryland communities in Ethiopia will benefit from a new project aimed at moving from subsistence farming to sustainable rural development through increased food and water security and better access to markets.

The Ethiopian Herald reports that the US $15 million project: Enhancing Food and Water Security for Improved Rural Commercialization will focus on the country’s most vulnerable communities in the areas of Tigray and Rift Valley through a joint effort by the World Agroforestry Centre and World Vision Ethiopia, funded by the Government of the Netherlands.

According to Denis Garrity, UN Drylands Ambassador and Research Fellow with the World Agroforestry Centre, the project will have a long lasting effect in selected areas through increasing the productivity of commercial staple crops, water use efficiency, decreased food dependency and greater availability of nutritious food.

Speaking through a representative, Agriculture State Minister Sileshi Getahun outlined the government’s efforts to expand watershed management and implement a green growth strategy to address the challenges of climate change in a sustainable way.

Read the full story: Dry land food, water security project launched