The World Bank (WB) issued its Ethiopia's Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) on Tuesday warning that Ethiopia is vulnerable to impacts of climate change which could worsen poverty, social tension and conflicts.

The UN Agency said Ethiopia's poverty reduction works have been slowed down in recent years for COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, an extended drought, and the conflicts in the Tigray and Amhara regions of the country.

"Growth has fallen to about 6 percent annually. This will not be sufficient for Ethiopia to achieve its appropriately ambitious development goals, including reducing extreme poverty, which still stands at almost a quarter of the population," the report stated.

World Bank has warned the cumulative effects of the ongoing drought which is the most severe in the last 40 years with six consecutive failed or poor rainy seasons could reduce the productivity of the agriculture sector, which currently employs about two-thirds of Ethiopia's workforce.

In its report, WB indicated that higher temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns could also exacerbate the incidence of diseases such as malaria and dengue, which along with likely increasing adverse effects of heat stress, would reduce labor productivity and the prospects of human capital accumulation, both critical to sustaining growth.

The impacts of climate change will also be reflected in severe flooding, reduced crop and livestock yields, more variable hydropower production, infrastructure damage, and losses in human health and productivity, according to the report.

“Change will lead to larger increases in poverty over the next 25 years if structural reforms are not implemented to enhance resilience and reduce the cost of adapting to climate change. Without reforms in agricultural policies, Ethiopia will continue to have significant imports of agricultural commodities to meet domestic demand," it said.

With reforms, however, agricultural output will likely increase significantly even with climate change, so that production would outstrip demand by the end of 2030, which would result in a significant increase in exportable surplus from 2030 onward, the report said.