Council of Ministers Regulations No. 418-2017
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS REGULATIONS TO PROVIDE FOR THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ETHIOPIAN SOIL RESOURCE INSTITUTE
WHEREAS,
it is found necessary to ensure healthy and fertile soil for enhancing
agricultural production and productivity in a rapid and sustainable manner, for
ensuring food security at household level, playing a key role in combating the
negative impact of climate change and in building green economy;
WHEREAS,it
is found necessary to establish state-of-the-art information system with
updated and detailed soil resource, fertility and landscape information for
ensuring fertile and healthy soil in a sustainable manner;
WHEREAS,
it is found necessary to ensure that soil information to be generated by
various private and governmental organization in harmonized manner and of high
quality;
WHEREAS,
it is found necessary to build strong national capacity to organize soil
resource, fertility and landscape information with analysis and mapping
capacity with required international standards;
WHEREAS,
it is found necessary to make soil fertility improvement and soil management
recommendations available and accessible to farmers, pastoralists, and other
users using state-of-the-art geospatial technologies based on soil testing
result at parcel level, crop requirement, and ecological zones;
WHEREAS,
it is found necessary to establish strong institution to ensure accomplishment
of soil related agriculture and rural development policies, strategies,
procedures and related legal frameworks
effectively;
NOW,
THEREFORE, this Regulation is issued by the Council of Ministers pursuant to
Articles 5 and 38 of the Definition of Power and Duties of the Executive Organs
of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Proclamation No. 916/2015(as
amended by Proclamation No.942/2016)
1. Short Title
This
Regulation may be cited as the “Ethiopian Soil Resource Institute Establishment
Council of Ministers Regulation No. 418
/2017”.
2. Definition
In
this Regulation:
1/ “soil” means the unconsolidated mixture of
mineral, organic matter, gases, liquid, and countless organisms on the
immediate surface of the earth used to support plant growth;
2/ “soil fertility” means the status of soil
having optimum nutrients and other inputs (water, air, organisms, and balanced
chemical content) to sustain plant growth and productivity;
3/ “soil resource” means a natural resource
and often characterized by amounts of materials existent in various soil types;
4/ “soil data” means soil resource/fertility
data either raw or processed that is directly collected from field, obtained
from secondary sources or generated from satellite imagery;
5/ “soil survey” means a systematic study of
the soil of an area including classification and mapping of the properties and
the distribution of various soil units;
6/ “soil test” means activity done to estimate
the available concentrations of essential plant nutrients, in order to
determine fertilizer recommendations;
7/ “soil map” means a map prepared by
integrating data from various sources (field, satellite imagery, legacy data);
and showing the distribution of soil types, soil fertility status and
fertilizer requirement of an area;
8/ “information” means a resource generated
from any raw data obtained in the form of text, audio, visual, map or
orchestrated in any form;
9/ “geospatial technology” means technologies
used to collect, visualize, measure, analyze and interpret earth's features;
10/ “fertilizer” means any organic or inorganic
material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply plant
nutrients essential for plant growth;
11/ “landscape” means the natural features that
distinguish one part of the earth's surface from another; and is the portion of
land or territory visible in a single view, including all its natural
characteristics;
12/ “ecosystem” means a natural system in which
living and non-living things are found interacting with each other in a dynamic
process;
13/ “environment” and “pollution” shall have the
meanings assigned to them under Article 2(6) and (12) of the Environmental
Pollution Control Proclamation No. 300/2002, respectively;
14/ “Region” means any state referred to
under
Council
of Ministers Regulations No. 418/2017
COUNCIL
OF MINISTERS REGULATIONS TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ETHIOPIAN SOIL
RESOURCE INSTITUTE
WHEREAS,
it is found necessary to ensure healthy and fertile soil for enhancing
agricultural production and productivity in a rapid and sustainable manner, for
ensuring food security at household level, playing a key role in combating the
negative impact of climate change and in building green economy;
WHEREAS,it
is found necessary to establish state-of-the-art information system with
updated and detailed soil resource, fertility and landscape information for
ensuring fertile and healthy soil in a sustainable manner;
WHEREAS,
it is found necessary to ensure that soil information to be generated by
various private and governmental organization in harmonized manner and of high
quality;
WHEREAS,
it is found necessary to build strong national capacity to organize soil
resource, fertility and landscape information with analysis and mapping
capacity with required international standards;
WHEREAS,
it is found necessary to make soil fertility improvement and soil management
recommendations available and accessible to farmers, pastoralists, and other
users using state-of-the-art geospatial technologies based on soil testing
result at parcel level, crop requirement, and ecological zones;
WHEREAS,
it is found necessary to establish strong institution to ensure accomplishment
of soil related agriculture and rural development policies, strategies,
procedures and related legal frameworks
effectively;
NOW,
THEREFORE, this Regulation is issued by the Council of Ministers pursuant to
Articles 5 and 38 of the Definition of Power and Duties of the Executive Organs
of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Proclamation No. 916/2015(as
amended by Proclamation No.942/2016)
1. Short Title
This
Regulation may be cited as the “Ethiopian Soil Resource Institute Establishment
Council of Ministers Regulation No. 418
/2017”.
2. Definition
In
this Regulation:
1/ “soil” means the unconsolidated mixture of
mineral, organic matter, gases, liquid, and countless organisms on the
immediate surface of the earth used to support plant growth;
2/ “soil fertility” means the status of soil
having optimum nutrients and other inputs (water, air, organisms, and balanced
chemical content) to sustain plant growth and productivity;
3/ “soil resource” means a natural resource
and often characterized by amounts of materials existent in various soil types;
4/ “soil data” means soil resource/fertility
data either raw or processed that is directly collected from field, obtained
from secondary sources or generated from satellite imagery;
5/ “soil survey” means a systematic study of
the soil of an area including classification and mapping of the properties and
the distribution of various soil units;
6/ “soil test” means activity done to estimate
the available concentrations of essential plant nutrients, in order to
determine fertilizer recommendations;
7/ “soil map” means a map prepared by
integrating data from various sources (field, satellite imagery, legacy data);
and showing the distribution of soil types, soil fertility status and
fertilizer requirement of an area;
8/ “information” means a resource generated
from any raw data obtained in the form of text, audio, visual, map or
orchestrated in any form;
9/ “geospatial technology” means technologies
used to collect, visualize, measure, analyze and interpret earth's features;
10/ “fertilizer” means any organic or inorganic
material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply plant
nutrients essential for plant growth;
11/ “landscape” means the natural features that
distinguish one part of the earth's surface from another; and is the portion of
land or territory visible in a single view, including all its natural
characteristics;
12/ “ecosystem” means a natural system in which
living and non-living things are found interacting with each other in a dynamic
process;
13/ “environment” and “pollution” shall have the
meanings assigned to them under Article 2(6) and (12) of the Environmental
Pollution Control Proclamation No. 300/2002, respectively;
14/ “Region” means any state referred to under
Article 47(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopia and includes Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa city administration;
15/ “Ministry” means the Ministry of Agriculture
and Natural Resource;
16/ “person” means any a natural or juridical
person;
17/ any expression in the masculine gender
includes the feminine.
3. Establishment
1/ There is established the Ethiopian Soil
Resource Institute (in this Regulation referred to as the “Institute”) as an
autonomous federal government office having its own legal responsibility.
2/ The Institute shall be accountable to the
Ministry.
4. Head Office
The
Institute shall have its head office in Addis Ababa and may have branch offices
elsewhere, as may be necessary.
5. Objective
The
Institute shall have the following main objectives:
1/ establish modern and world class soil
information system and build national capacity in the field so as to improve
soil health and fertility;
2/ provide updated soil resource and landscape
information, soil fertility status and fertilizer recommendation maps/atlases
to clients with the required quality and quantity on time using various
communication methods;
3/ build up capacity of soil testing centers
and achieve international accreditation;
4/ ensure the proper implementation of
policies, strategies, laws, directives and manuals to implement soil related
activities and agreements, upon approval;
5/ strengthen the synergy and strategic
partnership with national and international organizations working for the same
purpose.
6. Power and Duties
The
Institute shall have the following powers and duties:
1/ coordinates, leads and monitors national
soil resource and fertility information generation, analysis, interpretation,
dissemination and storage activities, in order to establish a functional soil
resource information system;
2/ by coordinating federal and regional institution
establish a uniform soil information system assisted by technology; create a
sustainable exchange of standardized information among the institutions, and
thereby serve as a center of soil database; and disseminate information to
users;
3/ periodically conduct soil fertility survey,
analyzes the samples, interpret the data and prepare soil test based fertilizer
recommendation, verify the result and disseminates to relevant stakeholders;
4/ document best practices and geo-information
technologies from countries that have a well-organized soil information system
and adapt them to local conditions and disseminates to local users;
5/ builds the capacity of Federal and Regional
soil testing laboratories so as to discharge their functions by maintain
competitive international standard and monitors the output quality through
sample exchange program and timely inspection;
6/ build up mobile soil testing technological
capacity in order to provide expedient soil test based fertilizer utilization
and soil management advisory service to farmers/pastoralists at parcel level;
7/ conduct soil classification and mapping of
the country at various scale;
8/ conduct soil survey and characterization
activities for priority development areas, monitor and validate such activities
performed by other stakeholders to maintain their standards;
9/ conduct crop yield mapping using modern
digital technologies;
10/ conduct cursory survey on degraded and
rehabilitated soils in collaboration with concerned stakeholders;
11/ evaluate the long term impact of fertilizers
on soils and the environment, and inform the results to the concerned bodies;
12/ upon request, provide soil survey, analysis,
and interpretation services to clients with reasonable service fee determined
by Government;
13/ act as a center of excellence in the
continent, provide tailored training, advisory services and soil analysis to
clients, including from countries in Africa;
14/ regularly monitor the health and status of
agricultural investment lands and inform the results to relevant stakeholders;
15/ facilitate condition for mutual support
between federal and regional agricultural educations, research, extension and
development institutions;
16/ create national and international cooperation
and strategic partnership in relation to its mission;
17/ formulate or initiate and coordinate the
formulation of policies, strategies, laws, directives and manuals to implement
soil related agreements; and upon approval, ensure their implementation;
18/ own property, enter into contracts, sue and
be sued in its own name;
19/ perform such other activities conducive to
the fulfillment of its objectives.
7. Organization of the Institute
The
Institute shall have:
1/ a Soil Resource Advisory Board (in this
Regulation referred to as “Board”)
2/ a Director General and as may be necessary,
Deputy Director Generals to be appointed by the Government; and
3/ the necessary staff.
8. Members of the Board
The
Chairperson and members of the Board shall be appointed by the Government and
their number shall be determined as appropriate.
9. Powers and Duties of the Board
The
Board shall:
1/ deliberate and forward recommendation on
soil resource and fertility related proposals, programs and projects and other
issues that contribute towards achieving the objective of the Institute.
2/ cause issuance of certificate of competence
to Institute by other independent body;
3/ establish a technical advisory committee;
designate members of the committee and receive technical evaluation reports
from the committee.
10.
Meeting of the Board
1/ The Board shall meet once in three months
and may have extraordinary meetings as may be necessary.
2/ There shall be quorum when more than half
of the members are present at a meeting.
3/ The decision of the Board shall be made by
a majority vote; in case of a tie, the chairperson shall have a casting vote.
4/ Without prejudice to the provisions of this
Article, the Board may adopt its own rules of procedure.
11. Powers and Duties of the Director General
1/ The Director General shall be the chief
executive officer of the Institute and shall subject to the general direction
of the Ministry, direct and administer the activities of the Institute.
2/ Without limiting the generality of
sub-article (1) of this Article, the Director General shall:
a) exercise the power and duties of the
Institute specified under Article 6 of this Regulation;
b) employ and administer employees engaged in
support services of the Institute in accordance with the federal civil service
laws and, in the case of professionals engaged in the core functions of the
Institute, in accordance with directives approved by the Government following
the basic principles of the federal civil service laws;
c) prepare and submit work program and budget
of the Institute to the Ministry and implement the same upon approval by the
Government;
d) effect payments in accordance with approved
budget and work program of the Institute;
e) represent the Institute in dealing with
third parties;
f) prepare and submit to the Ministry the
performance and financial reports of the Institute.
3/ The Director General may delegate part of
his powers and duties to other officials and employees of the Institute to the
extent necessary for the efficient performance of the activities of the
Institute.
12.Powers
and Duties of the Deputy Director Generals
The
Deputy Director Generals shall:
1/ assist the Director General in planning,
organizing, leading and coordinating the activities of the Institute;
2/ execute other duties specifically assigned
by the Director General;
3/ represent the Director General in his
absence, when specifically delegated by the Director General.
13.
Budget
The
Institute’s budget shall be allocated by the Government.
14.
Books of Account
1/ The Institute shall keep complete and
accurate book of accounts.
2/ The book of account and financial documents
of the Institute shall be audited annually by the Auditor General or an auditor
designated by him.
15.
Transfer of Rights and Obligation
The
rights and duties transferred to the Ethiopian Agricultural Research
Organization under Article 17 of the Ethiopian Agricultural Research
Organization Establishment Proclamation No. 79/1997(as amended by Proclamation
No 382/2004) with respect to National Soil Testing Center are transferred to
the Institute.
16.
Effective Date
This
Regulation shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Federal
Negarit Gazette.
Done
at Addis Ababa, this 24th day of November, 2017.
HAILEMARIAM
DESSALEGN
PRIME
MINISTER OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA
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