The Ministry of Agriculture has distributed 177 field vehicles and motorcycles to six regional states as part of the ongoing effort to support the livestock and fisheries sub-sectors. Costing 80 million Br, the funds came from the World Bank Group.

The vehicles will be distributed to 58 districts in the Oromia, Amhara, Southern Nations, Nationalities & People's Region (SNNPR), Tigray, Benishangul-Gumuz and Gambella regional states under the Livestock & Fisheries Sector Development Project. The six-year project was kicked off in 2018 with a loan of 170 million dollars from the World Bank that will be paid in 50 years.

The project is designed to increase productivity and the commercialisation of producers and processors in selected value chains, including strengthening service delivery systems in the livestock and fishery sectors and responding promptly and effectively to an emerging crisis. It has three components: linking harvested crops to market, strengthening institutional programmes, and capacity building within the dairy, poultry, red meat and fishery industries.

Out of the total number of vehicles, 146 are motorcycles, while the remaining are passenger cars. Among the cars, six are long base vehicles, while the rest are double-top Toyota vehicles. All of them were imported from Japan through the United Nations' Procurement Division, which provides procurement services and business advice to organisations such as the World Bank.

The vehicles will benefit 1.2 million households in 1,755 kebelesacross six regions. So far, the Ministry has distributed 122 field vehicles for the regional states at a cost of 102 million Br.

The vehicles and motorcycles that have been given to the regions are going to be used for the red meat value chain, and the Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) virus eradication programme, according to Thomas Chernet (PhD), a national project coordinator at the Ministry. Peste des Petits Ruminants virus is an infectious viral disease of small ruminants and highly affects sheep and goats.