Addis Ababa, 08 December 2015 (WIC) – The Tigray Regional State Bureau of Farming and Natural Resource Conservation has announced that it has distributed more than 18 thousand quintals of silage to drought affected farmers in the region.
Deputy Head of the bureau, Jemal Gidey, said that the region has distributed more than 18 thousand quintals of silage to 700 thousand animals in the drought affected area of the region. He said that the fodder is collected from animal feed processing unions in the region and Tendaho sugar factory.
According to Jemal, 196 Woreda’s of the region are faced with the ongoing El Niño induced drought.
Jemal noted that more than 5 million livestock have been vaccinated in order to safeguard them from drought caused animal disease.
The bureau availed more than 13 thousand quintals of cereals and 8,500 quintals of bean seeds to a little over 46 thousand farmers, said Jemal.
In the meantime, the Tigray Region water Bureau vice head, Abreham Adane (Dr.), noted that the region has allotted 23 percent of its budget for waters resource development. He also said that in order to overcome the water shortage faced due to the ongoing drought, his office is distributing water through trucks to the drought affected areas.
Based on the information obtained from the region, the region plans to develop more than 220 thousand hectare of land through irrigation while additional 130 thousand hectares of land in 23 Woreda has been already developed.
Walta leant that the regions has developed 169 bore holes using a fund mobilized from two institutions, namely; Tigray Rehabilitation Association, Endowment Fund for Rehabilitation of Tigray and Ezana. The collected fund mobilized from the three organizations amounts to 38 million birr.