Regreening Ethiopia beyond climate change and environmental degradation: the political meaning of green legacy

Abstract

As the drivers of deforestation are manifold, the reasons for reforestation and afforestation (AR), that involved Ethiopia since the late Nineteenth century to the present, have changed over time. After a brief historical overview, the article aims to analyse the four editions of Green Legacy, a regreenization initiative led by Pm Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The initiative, while retaining the objectives of past AR operations, such as tackling environmental degradation and mitigating GHG (strategically removed in the project narrative), has clothed the entire operation with a new aesthetic and political significance, aimed primarily to celebrate the Pm’s political season.