Dreams of an agriculture sector unshackled from the whims of rain remain tethered to the struggling Ministry of Irrigation & Lowlands. A scathing parliamentary nine-month review exposed a meagre track record, where the Ministry not only failed to complete a project, but some had even backtracked their progress. The review exposed the Ministry's shortcomings, prompting Fetiya Ahmed, Chairwoman of the Water, Irrigation & Lowland Development Affairs Committee, to demand a special federal government review. In her view, the Ministry has consistently disregarded warnings and advice.

"It has a long list of problems," she said.

The Committee's investigation unearthed a dismal picture where 19 projects showed no progress, seven limped forward at a sluggish 10pc completion, and a mere two reached 40pc. Fetiya said the stark "discrepancy between reports and reality on the ground."

To illustrate the Ministry's failings, she pointed to the Megecha Irrigation Project in Amhara Regional State, as a monument to mismanagement. According to Fetiya, the project had six design revisions and is four billion Birr over budget while eight years behind schedule.

Ethiopia's agricultural sector, despite contributing nearly 40pc to GDP, employing over 62pc of the workforce, and accounting for 80pc of exports, remains stuck in a cycle of subsistence farming and traditional methods. Food insecurity has worsened over the past decade, with the FAO estimating a staggering 25 million people facing severe food insecurity.

Despite introducing modern irrigation in the 1950s to tap into Ethiopia's 12 river basins boasting an annual runoff of 122 billion cubic meters, success has been elusive. Only a fraction, less than a tenth, of the estimated four million hectares of irrigable land is cultivated. This persistent underachievement stems from a confluence of factors: a lack of national irrigation standards, poorly researched feasibility studies, and a critical shortage of trained personnel. These shortcomings have repeatedly led to the breakdown of dams and irrigation projects.

Minister Aisha Mohammed blamed a backlog of poorly designed projects inherited from the previous administration. She argued that continuing with these plans would have resulted in dam and canal failures, potentially causing floods.

"Some projects were stopped right before implementation," the Minister defended.

Aisha also cited budgetary constraints as a chronic hurdle. The Ministry manages an 8.03 billion Br annual budget, yet oversees contracts 10 times that amount, according to Aisha. She said that they have a backlog of two billion Birr in approved payments for completed works.

However, her attempt to deflect blame for the Omo Curaz V sugar project's underperformance backfired. Aisha argued it was a multi-institutional issue, with the Ethiopian Sugar Industry Group failing to cultivate nearly 50,000hct of suitable land which sparked an immediate response from other officials.

Mohammed Abdo (Prof), chair of the Government Development Institutions Affairs Committee, dismantled the explanation. He revealed a three-part list of crucial project elements that remained incomplete, hindering sugar production. Mohammed pointed out that only a third of the necessary water was reaching one 18,000hct section but the water intake structure, designed to handle 60 cubic meters of water, was instead clogged with runoff soil.

"A project's success is judged by its implementation, not excuses," he said, highlighting the Ministry's shortcomings in executing the Omo Curaz V plan.