Addis Ababa: Millions of Ethiopians from all over the nation turned out in the early morning today to smash their own planting record by planting 600 million seedlings today. Today's massive tree planting event is part of the National Green Legacy Initiative launched in 2019 by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed with the objective of mitigating the impacts of climate change and challenges of food insecurity. Thanks to the initiative, Ethiopia has made remarkable strides in the last five years to increase the country's forest cover, with outstanding increases of 23.6 percent by 2023 compared to 17.2 percent in 2019. Reliable sources state that in five years, starting in 2019, the country has planted 32.5 billion tree seedlings. Some 7.5 billion additional seedlings are expected to be planted this rainy season to make the total number of seedlings planted 40 billion thus far. Out of the billions of seedlings being planted currently across the country, 56 percent are fruits and other multipurpose plants. Hence, the initiative has been playing crucial role to boost agricultural productivity beyond environmental protection. The overall goal of the country is to plant 50 billion seedlings by the year 2026. Source: Ethiopian News Agency