Politics & Power Quote by Girma Woldegiorgis

Girma Woldegiorgis is doing two things at once here: elevating farmers into the moral and economic center of the nation, while quietly disciplining the country’s institutional class. By insisting that farmers’ labor is "of greater value" than the "financial capacity" of government and NGOs, he flips the usual development script. Money becomes secondary, even derivative; legitimacy flows upward from the soil, not downward from budgets, grants, or policy memos.

The phrasing matters. "No doubt" signals a foreclosed debate, a leader’s attempt to settle an argument that often simmers in agrarian economies: who actually builds the country - those who produce food and stability, or those who manage funds and programs? Calling institutions "supportive" casts them as auxiliaries, not protagonists. It’s a rhetorical demotion aimed at bureaucratic overreach and NGO paternalism, but also a gentle warning to citizens not to outsource national progress to donors or ministries.

The subtext is both nationalist and pragmatic. In Ethiopia’s political economy, where rural livelihoods carry enormous demographic weight and where external assistance can distort incentives, this line defends self-reliance without denying cooperation. Woldegiorgis doesn’t reject institutions; he assigns them a proper lane: enable, don’t replace. The statement also courts a crucial constituency - farmers - with respect rather than sentimentality, framing their work as a form of capital more foundational than cash.

It works because it turns an economic claim into a hierarchy of dignity: production over administration, sweat over spreadsheets. In a world addicted to funding announcements, it’s a reminder that development is ultimately a human output, not an institutional performance.