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Although most of the people of this East African nation endure starvation and survive below the poverty line, their land is endowed with fertility and water sources, which they could put to a better use and make the difference.
Being the source of the Blue Nile and its tributaries, Ethiopia also has several other rivers that flow beyond its borders to arid and semi-arid regions of neighbouring countries.
According to the paper, it is absolutely fundamental for Ethiopians to realise the great agricultural potential of their country for poverty reduction and economic development.
For Ethiopia to feed its growing population without dependence on handouts from donors, it needs to improve the management and productivity of the land and water in a sustainable way.
"Creating the national will across all divides for this matter of supreme urgency is probably the greatest challenge ever to be faced by Ethiopia.
"In this regard, there is no substitute to the implementation and expansion of the education system, instilling permanent awareness and a deserved appreciation of our untapped wealth," the paper added in its editorial this week.
Meanwhile, another weekly tabloid, 'Fortune' runs its commentary on similar lines but with accent on the worsening food crisis, poverty, drought and political instability in the Horn of Africa region.
Quoting international humanitarian reports, the paper said as many as 16.3 million people in the region (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia) face food insecurity and need emergency assistance.
In Ethiopia, where annual inflation shot over 25 percent in June 2008 and food prices have soared by 78.3 percent, the population in need of emergency food aid is put at 11.8 million.
On Somalia, 'Fortune' warns that as the emergency escalates, warlords who profit from food relief operations will continue to do so.
"Greater instability supports the agenda of clan-based insurgents and militant Islamist groups seeking to undermine the Ethiopia-supported Transitional Federal Government, which might finally collapse under the additional pressure.
"In addition, instability might spread from southern Somalia into the relatively-stable, semi-autonomous region of Puntland, and into the self-declared Republic of Somaliland," the weekly points out.
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