In as much as some quarters may fight hard to deny the adverse effects of climate change, the truth of the matter is that Earth is a a very precarious position right now. And Ethiopia's noble initiative to embark on massive tree-planting has been hailed around the whole world.
In one day only, Ethiopia planted more than 350 million trees. Yes, 350 million trees. Officials believe this is a world record without dispute. India set a record of 66 million trees in 12 hours after around 1.5 million volunteers planted these trees.
In a country that has not been spared by the effects of climate change such as drought, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took it upon himself to lead the tree planting initiative. Deforestation is always increasing, and the country has taken a bold step to mitigate this.
Public services were temporarily suspended so as to allow civil servants to take part in this national exercise. The tree-planting exercise is part of the Green Legacy Initiative spearheaded by PM Ahmed. It is taking place in 1,000 sites across the whole of Ethiopia.
And there is more interesting information to this. Because Ethiopia's ambitious plan is to plant 4 billion trees during the rainy season (the period between May and October) and this was according to a May tweet by the Prime Minister.
In all this, there are many lessons that fellow African countries can draw from this. Instead of complaining that global warming is coming at us at a faster rate than we had ever imagined, it's only time for action. Action instituted by those who lead the countries. That is the only way Africa can come to terms with global warming in a viable and feasible manner that does not even cost much.
Leaders across the continent should be leading tree-planting efforts in the country. Africa is the continent suffering the most from the changing weather patterns brought on by climate change. Following Ethiopia's footsteps is the way to go.
There have been critics saying that this tree-planting exercise by Ahmed is to distract the Ethiopians and the world at large from the internal conflicts rocking the country that are bordering on ethnic mistrust and tensions.
But this does not diminish the fact that tree-planting is a noble exercise especially in this age.
Header image credit - CNN