Workshop on Managing Salt-Affected Soils in Ethiopia

Salt-affected soils in Ethiopia cause a severe problem for the growth of agriculture and food security of the country. To discuss various solutions around this issue, participants from the Ethiopian national research and development organizations, private sector, regional and international development partners, and key donor agencies, met at the workshop on 'Managing Salt-Affected Soils in Ethiopia'. The event was co-organized by the Ministry of Agriculture of Ethiopia and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and was held in Addis Ababa on 11-12 December 2014.

Several key recommendations came out of this meeting. First, the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and ICBA will lead the initiation of a five-year project to look for both mitigation and adaptation project activities in order to rehabilitate the salt-affected farms back to production. The major component is to work on forage-livestock integration systems in these salt- affected farms through collaboration with International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The project will also include the scaling-up of project activities targeting 1 million hectare during the five-year period. Second, train national resources on managing salt-affected lands. Third, preventive measures that will help in reducing the increase in future soil salinization in irrigated lands; this will be achieved through the development and implementation of policies, strategies and technologies.