Agriculture News and Developments

[abnet]

Similar news like the above.

Reuters Africa
Ethiopia flower earnings may surge by 2016-growers
Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:43am GMT


ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's income from horticulture exports is expected to more than triple to $550 million in five years due to rising investment, the head of a growers' association said on Monday.

More than 90 companies, including foreign firms, have set up in the sector, where investors have taken up 1,600 hectares for flower production, and 1,200 for vegetables.

Tsegaye Abebe, head of the Ethiopian Horticultural Producers and Exporters Association said land leases are likely to double for flower production and expand by ten-fold for fruits and vegetables.

"With the current rate of requests, revenue from the export of horticultural products will reach $550 million by that (five years) time," Tsegaye told Reuters.

The Horn of Africa nation earned $110 million from flower exports and $45 million from vegetables in 2010, and it projects that the earnings will rise to $195 million and $60 million respectively in 2011.

"Every year there is a progress of 25 to 30 percent (in export earnings)," Tsegaye said.

"From 2012 onwards, our forecast is more than 35 percent. Flower farms are expected to expand and new projects opened in different parts of the country."

Government officials have identified the sector as key to diversification in an economy long dependent on coffee exports, which usually account for 60 percent of total earnings.

Tsegaye said investors are attracted by incentives from the government which include a five-year tax break, scrapping of import duties and access to financing from banks.

© Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved


af.reuters.com:

[Simfan34]

Originally Posted by The Hindu

Tata Intl plans tannery, leather goods unit in Ethiopia

CHENNAI, APRIL 24:
Tata International Ltd, the global trading arm of Tata Group with business interests in leather, chemicals and engineering goods, is planning to set up tannery and leather goods manufacturing facilities in Ethiopia, “as the country has a good number of livestock”.

The company, which currently has leather processing and manufacturing facilities in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, intends to make Ethiopia its first processing and manufacturing hub outside India, said Mr O.K. Kaul, Executive Director, Tata International.

CAPACITY EXPANSION

Besides, Tata International is also on the verge of completing capacity expansion projects, involving Rs 56 crore, at its units in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the next few months. This will take its total finished leather production, including upholstery products, to six million sq.ft a month from the current four million sq.ft.

Talking to Business Line on the sidelines of Central Leather Research Institute's (CLRI) Foundation Day ceremony held here on Sunday, Mr Kaul said, “The company will continue to invest in similar capacity expansion projects this year too, and has earmarked $3 million for the purpose.”

FOOTWEAR GROWTH

Following the acquisition of 76 per cent stake each in Tamil Nadu-based Bachi Group and Euro Shoe Components Pvt Ltd, late last year, the company forayed into children's footwear and also augmented its overall footwear manufacturing capacity to over five million pairs a year. The company's core business is export of finished leather, footwear and other accessories to various international brands in the US and Europe.

As the company views footwear as a significant business opportunity in the domestic market too, it launched its first retail outlet in Delhi under the brand Tashi in October last year. “Currently we have six stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh. We are planning to take the total to at least 250-300 stores across the country in the next few years,” said Mr Kaul. Footwear retail is a Rs 16,000-crore market and is growing at 15 per cent year-on-year.

The company has a supply chain network in countries such as Bangladesh, China Ethiopia, Zambia, Indonesia, Australia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and in the EU. Its global turnover stands at Rs 3,000 crore with equal contribution from

Found this.

[Hersh]

Ethiopian Government Starts Agricultural Agency to Double Crop Production

Ethiopia started an agricultural agency that plans to help double production in the economy’s biggest industry over the next five years, said Wonderad Mandefro, minister of state for agriculture.

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency, or EATA, is modelled on economic development organizations in South Korea and Taiwan and will be overseen by a council chaired by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Wonderad said in an interview in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, yesterday.

“In the past five years, the country has made significant progress in sustaining agricultural production,” Wonderad said. “Compared to the potential, it’s still the tip of the iceberg.”

Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation, is the continent’s biggest coffee grower. A five-year government plan to wean the Horn of Africa country off foreign aid aims to boost agricultural production by 14.9 percent annually. The industry accounts for 45 percent of economic output and employs about 80 percent of the population, according to Wonderad.

The agency was created after the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was asked by Meles in 2008 to assess an Ethiopian program that provides support and equipment for farmers using so-called extension workers, Wonderad said. In partnership with international donors and agricultural-research organizations, the foundation was subsequently asked to assess other aspects of the industry, including irrigation, soil fertility and marketing. These will now be key areas of focus for EATA.

The Seattle-based non-profit organization is providing technical expertise to EATA and may support the agency financially, said Roy Steiner, deputy director of its agricultural development program.
‘Tremendous Potential’

“Ethiopia has tremendous agricultural potential and it’s doing a lot of the right things,” he said in a phone interview from Seattle yesterday. “It’s investing in agriculture in a way that other African countries are not.”

A “critical issue” that needs to be addressed in Ethiopia is better training and support for the 60,000 extension workers, according to Steiner. Yields may also be boosted by increasing the number and efficiency of small-scale irrigation works using groundwater or pumps, he said.

“It’s a small thing, but boy it can make a difference if your pump lasts 10 years rather than one year,” Steiner said.

Ethiopia has the potential to be self-sufficient in grain production and for export development in livestock, flowers, oilseeds, sugar, vegetables and fruit, according to the U.S. State Department’s website.
Staple Food

Crops being targeted by the EATA include the most-widely grown teff, a cereal used to make Ethiopia’s flatbread staple known as injera, which is currently grown on about 2.5 million hectares (6.2 million acres) of land. The government wants to increase yields to as much as 60 quintals (13,228 pounds) per hectare from 10 quintals currently, Wonderad said.

A small improvement in the productivity of teff would “automatically transform” the agriculture industry, he said.

About 3 million of Ethiopia’s 80 million people are in need of emergency food assistance, the government said on April 12. Another 7.8 million people receive food or cash under an aid program, World Food Programme spokesman Susannah Nicol said in a phone interview yesterday from Addis Ababa.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...roduction.html

[abnet]

A very good interview with mr. birhan agricultural machinery technical support advisory manager about changing the countries agriculture to mechanized farming.

Reporter - Amharic Edition
ከኋላቀር ግብርና ወደሜካናይዜሽን

Wednesday, 04 May 2011 06:45

አቶ ብርሃን አወቀ ከአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ በማኔጅመንት የመጀመሪያ ዲግሪ አላቸው፡፡ በቅርቡ ከደቡብ አፍሪካ (UNISA) ዩኒቨርሲቲ በቢዝነስ አድሚኒስትሬሽን ሁለተኛ ዲግሪያቸውን አግኝተዋል፡፡
አቶ ብርሃን የእርሻ መሣርያዎች የቴክኒክ አገልግሎት ኢንተርፕራይዝ ሰፕላይ ዲፓርትመንት ኃላፊ ሲሆኑ፣ በአሁኑ ወቅት ደግሞ የዋና ሥራ አስኪያጁ ተወካይ ሆነው እየሠሩ ነው፡፡

በአሁኑ ጊዜ በተለያዩ ደረጃዎች የአገሪቱ የግብርና ክፍለ ኢኮኖሚው ወደ ሜካናይዜሽን የሚለወጥበት ስትራቴጂ በመዘርጋት ላይ መሆኑን ተከትሎ፣ የእዚህ ኢንተርፕራይዝ አስተዋፅኦ በግብርናው ዘርፍ ምን ሊሆን ይችላል የሚለውን በተመለከተ ውድነህ ዘነበ አቶ ብርሃንን አነጋግሯቸዋል፡፡

ሪፖርተር፡- የእርሻ መሣርያዎችና የቴክኒክ አገልግሎት ኢንተርፕራይዝ የተመሠረተበት ዓላማ ምንድነው?

አቶ ብርሃን፡- ኢንተርፕራይዙ የተቋቋመው በ1970 ዓ.ም. ነው፡፡ ዋነኛው የተቋቋመበት ዓላማ የግብርናውን ክፍለ ኢኮኖሚ ወደ ሜካናይዜሽን እንዲለውጥ ለማድረግ ነው፡፡ ከዚህ አንፃር የተለያዩ ሥራዎችን በሦስት ከፍሎ ይሠራል፡፡ የመጀመሪያው የመሬት ዝግጅት ነው፡፡ ሁለተኛው ለእርሻ መሣርያዎች የቴክኒክ አገልግሎት መስጠት ነው፡፡
በተለይ የእርሻ መሣርያዎችንና የኮንስትራክሽን መሣርያዎች የጥገና አገልግሎት ይሰጣል፡፡ ሦስተኛው የንግድ ሥራ መሥራት ነው፡፡ የእርሻው ክፍለ ኢኮኖሚ የሚፈልጋቸውን ኬሚካሎች ያቀርባል፡፡ ለመሣርያዎች መለዋወጫ ያስመጣል፤ ያከፋፍላል፡፡ የመርጫ መሣርያዎችንና ጎማዎችን ያስመጣል ያከፋፍላል፡፡ ከተለያዩ ዓለም አቀፍ ኩባንያዎች የብቸኛ አከፋፋይነት መብት በመውሰድም ይሠራል፡፡

ሪፖርተር፡- ባለፈው የምርት ዘመን የስንዴ ቢጫዋግ ተከስቶ ነበር፡፡ በሽታውን በማጥፋት በኩል የነበራችሁ ድርሻ ምን ነበር?

አቶ ብርሃን፡- ባለፈው የምርት ዘመን በተለያዩ ስንዴ አብቃይ አካባቢዎች የስንዴ ቢጫዋግ መከሰቱ ይታወሳል፡፡ ይህን በሚመለከት ከግብርና ሚኒስቴር ጋር ግንኑነት በማድረግ ሙሉውን የኬሚካል አቅርቦቱን የሠራው የእኛ ኢንተርፕራይዝ ነው፡፡ ሌት ተቀን ተሯሩጠን 50 ሚሊዮን ብር የሚያወጣ ኬሚካል ነው ያቀረብነው፡፡ ወረርሽኙም በቁጥጥር ስር ውሏል፡፡ ወረርሽኙ በአማራ፣ በደቡብ፣ በኦሮሚያ ክልል ነበር የተከሰተው፡፡ ርጭቱም ተካሂዶ ወረርሽኙ በቁጥጥር ሥር ውሏል፡፡ ኬሚካሉን ያስገባነው ጀርመን አገር ከሚገኘው ባየር ክሮፕ ሳይንስ ነው፡፡ የዚህ ኩባንያ የኢትዮጵያ ብቸኛ ወኪል እኛ ነን፡፡

ሪፖርተር፡- በቅርቡ የአበባ ኬሚካል ወደ አገር ውስጥ ማስገባት ጀምራችኋል? ብዙ ኩባንያዎች ይህንን ኬሚካል ያስገባሉ፡፡ ውድድሩ አይጠነከርባችሁም?

አቶ ብርሃን፡- ከቅርብ ዓመታት ወዲህ በአገሪቱ የአበባ ልማት እየተስፋፋ መጥቷል፡፡ በዚህ በኩል ራሱን የቻለ ፍላጎት በመፍጠሩ የአበባ ኬሚካሎችን ማስመጣትና ማከፋፈል ጀምረናል፡፡ እኛ የምናቀርበው በተመጣጣኝ ዋጋ በመሆኑ አልሚዎች ምክንያታዊ እንደሆንን እየነገሩን ነው፡፡

ሪፖርተር፡- የብዙ አልሚዎችን መሬት ለእርሻ እንደሚመች እያዘጋጃችሁ ነው በእስካሁኑ ሒደት ምን ያህል አልሚዎችን መሬት አዘጋጅታችኋል?

አቶ ብርሃን፡- ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ የእርሻው ክፍለ ኢኮኖሚ በመስፋፋት ላይ ነው፡፡ በርካታ ኢንቬስተሮች ወደ ዘርፉ በመግባት ላይ ናቸው፡፡ በመንግሥትም የሚካሄድ ሥራ አለ፡፡ ከዚህ አንጻር በእስካሁኑ ሂደት የመሬት ዝግጅት የሠራንላቸው ተቋማት አሉ፡፡ ሳዑዲ አስተር ግብርና ልማት ኩባንያ በጋምቤላ የወሰደውን መሬት አዘጋጅተንለታል፡፡ የኩባንያውን ሰባት ሺሕ ሔክታር መሬት አዘጋጅተናል፡፡

ሪፖርተር፡- መሬቱ የተሸፈነው በምንድን ነበር? የሥራው ባሕሪስ እንዴት ነው?

አቶ ብርሃን፡- እያንዳንዱ ሥራ የራሱ ባህሪና የራሱ ባለሙያ ይፈልጋል፡፡ አንዳንድ ኩባንያዎች በርካሽ አገኘን ይሉና ወደ ሌሎች ተቋማት ይሄዳሉ፡፡ ግን ተመልሰው ወደኛ ይመጣሉ፡፡ የመሬት ዝግጅት ሲካሄድ አስቸጋሪ ጉቶ ይኖራል፡፡ ያ ከሥሩ ካልተነቀለ እርሻውን የሚያርሠው ትራክተር ኋላ ላይ ከጥቅም ውጪ ይሆናል፡፡ ስለዚህ ልምድ ከሌለ ጥፋት ነው፡፡ ቦታው በዛፎች፣ በቁጥቋጦዎች የተሸፈነ ስለነበር ተመንጥሮ ለእርሻ እንዲመች ተደርጎ ተዘጋጅቷል፡፡

በፕራይቬታይዜሽንና የመንግሥት የልማት ድርጅቶች ተቆጣጣሪ ኤጀንሲ በደቡብ ክልል በበቃ አካባቢ የጐማ ዛፍ ልማት ያካሂዳል፡፡ ለዚህ ልማት የሚሆነውን አንድ ሺሕ ሔክታር መሬት አዘጋጅተናል፡፡ በአማራ ክልል አዊ ዞን ቻግኒ አካባቢ ለምርጥ ዘር ማብቀያ የሚሆን አንድ ሺሕ ሔክታር መሬት አዘጋጅተናል፡፡ የኢትዮጵያ ኤሌክትሪክ ኃይል ኮርፖሬሽን ፊንጫ አካባቢ ከሚያካሂደው የኤሌክትሪክ ኃይል ግንባታ ቦታ ላይ ለሚነሱ ሰዎች የሚሆን ሁለት ሺሕ ሔክታር መሬት ለማዘጋጀት ሥራውን ተረክበን እየሠራን ነው፡፡ ይህ ቦታ የሚዘጋጀው ለሚነሱ ገበሬዎች የሚሆን ተለዋጭ መሬት ለማቅረብ ነው፡፡

በደቡብ ክልል ገማድሮ አካባቢ አንድ ሺሕ ሔክታር ለማዘጋጀት ወስደናል፡፡ ቦታው የሚዘጋጀው ለሻይ ቅጠል ልማት ነው፡፡ ከቅርብ ጊዜ ወዲህ የእርሻው ክፍለ ኢኮኖሚ በመስፋፋት ላይ በመሆኑ የኛም ሥራ እንዲሁ ይስፋፋል፡፡ መንግሥት በቅርቡ እንዳስታወቀው ከሦስት ሚሊዮን ሔክታር መሬት በላይ ለአልሚዎች ዝግጁ ነው፡፡ ስለዚህ ይህ ለእኛ ትልቅ አጋጣሚ ነው፡፡ የአንበሳውን ድርሻ የሚያካሂደው የእኛ መሥርያ ቤት ነው፡፡

ሪፖርተር፡- የዓባይ ኃይል ማመንጫ ግድብ (የህዳሴ) ሥራ ተጀምሯል በመሬት ዝግጅት በኩል ምን ድርሻ አላችሁ?

አቶ ብርሃን፡- የዓባይ ግድብ ለእኛ በረከት ነው፡፡ በኢትዮጵያዊነት የሚያመጣውን ለውጥ ትተህ እንደኛ ድርጅት ስትመለከተው የእኛ ድርጅት ብዙ ሥራ ያገኛል፡፡ ትልቅ ዝግጅት እንድናደርግ የሚያደርገን ነው፡፡ የሚያነቃቃን ነው፡፡ እንዲህ ዓይነት የመሬት ዝግጅቶችን የማዘጋጀት ሥራ በአብዛኛው የእኛ ነው፡፡ ልምዱም፣ አቅሙም አለን፡፡

አንደኛ መንግሥት ያሉንን መሳሪያዎች በአዳዲስ እንድንተካ ከፍተኛ ኢንቬስትመንት እየፈቀደልን ነው፡፡ ዶዘሮች እየገዛን ነው፡፡ እንደሚታወቀው አንዱ ዶዘር ዋጋው ቀላል አይደለም፡፡ በየዓመቱ ከ20 እስከ 30 ዶዘር እያስገባን ነው፡፡ የጠየቅነው በጀትም እየተፈቀደ ነው፡፡

ሪፖርተር፡- የተለየ አገልግሎት ትሰጣላችሁ?

አቶ ብርሃን፡- በዚህ ዘርፍ የእርሻና የኮንስትራክሽን እንዲሁም ቀላልና ከባድ መኪኖችን ጥገና እንሰጣለን፡፡ በዚህ ላይ ልምዱም አቅሙም አለን፡፡ የመንግሥት ድርጅቶች መኪኖቻቸውን እኛ ጋ ያስጠግናሉ፡፡

ሪፖርተር፡- መሥርያ ቤታችሁ ትርፋማ ነው ማለት ይቻላል?

አቶ ብርሃን፡- በኪሳራ ሲንቀሳቀስ ነበር፡፡ እንዲያውም በደርግ ጊዜ ብቸኛው አከፋፋይ ኮርፖሬሽን ነበር፡፡ ሁሉም የእርሻ ኢንተርፕራይዞች በግዳጅ ስለሚገዙ አብዛኛው ጊዜውን ያሳለፈው በኪሳራ ነው፡፡ ነፃ ገበያ ሲታወጅ ኢንተርፕራይዞቹ ከፈለጉበት ቦታ መግዛት ሲጀምሩ የእኛ ኢንተርፕራይዝ ለመንቃት ችሏል፡፡ ነገሮችን ተቋቁሞ መቀጠል ስላለበት ራሱን በሚገባ አደራጅቶ በዓመት ከ20 ሚሊዮን ብር በላይ ማትረፍ ችሏል፡፡

ሪፖርተር፡- የሠራተኛ አያያዛችሁ ምን ይመስላል?

አቶ ብርሃን፡- ኢንተርፕራይዙ 480 ሠራተኞች አሉት፡፡ አንድ መሥርያ ቤት ውጤታማ የሚሆነው በውጫዊ ብቻ ሳይሆን በውስጣዊ ሁኔታው ጭምር ነው፡፡ትጉ ሠራተኞችም አሉን፡፡ ቦርዱም ጥሩ ክትትል ያደርጋል፡፡ በተለይ ሠራተኛው የሥራ ተነሣሽነቱ በየጊዜው እየጨመረ ነው፡፡ ጥቅማ ጥቅምም እንዲሁ ቦነስ ጭምር እየሰጠን ነው፡፡ የሁለት ወር ደመወዝ ቦነስ ሰጥተናል፡፡ ይህንን ያገኘው ሠራተኛው ተግቶ በመሥራቱ ነው፡፡ ይህንንም ማጣት አይፈልግም፡፡ ሥራ በዋነኛነት ለራስ ጠቀሜታ ነው፡፡ በሚታይ መልኩም ሠራተኛው ራሱ የሥራውን ፍሬ እያየው በመሆኑ መነቃቃቱ ይጨምራል፡፡

ሪፖርተር፡- መገጣጠሚያ ፋብሪካ የመገንባት ዕቅድ አላችሁ?

አቶ ብርሃን፡- መሥርያ ቤታችን ባካሄደው የመሠረታዊ የሥራ ሒደት ለውጥ ጥናት መሣርያዎችን እንዳለ ከማስመጣት እዚሁ ማገጣጠሙ እንደሚሻል ያሰምርበታል፡፡ እዚሁ ቢገጣጠም ከኢኮኖሚው አንፃር አዋጭ ነው፡፡ ሸማቹም ዋጋ ይቀንስለታል፡፡ ትራክተሩን ብቻ ሳይሆን የእርሻ መሣርያዎችን እዚሁ ለማገጣጠም ዕቅድ አለን፡፡




Reporter
Copyright © 2011 - Media & Communications Center

[Addiscity]

http://www.ethiotube.net/video/13964...piece-by-piece



A must watch this Mind blowing and speechless documentary, it really heart me to see the Indigenous peoples getting pushed aside from their own land by their own government to give away their land to some stranger with deep pocket, without consulting these indigenous people or providing them with alternative land they can farm on!!!

It is really SAD how the government value highly of these investors more than it does to its own people. It is also a slap in the face when the India investor brag about how many hectare of land he has in Ethiopia and what he going to do with it.

Am not saying they shouldn’t let them invest in Ethiopia, I think it’s a brilliant idea as it will help the locals with stable income and help them to increase their knowledge in different sector, which is good for the development of the country as a whole, however, having said that its only Brilliant, if it’s been conducted in the right manner which doesn’t affect both the investor and the local people, and most importantly the terms and conditions of the allocation of the land by the government sounds too weak by a government standard!! The guy clearly said there was no condition on helping the local people in the contract or any other staff!!!

Hope things get better!

[Addiscity]

http://www.ethiotube.net/video/13964...piece-by-piece

[abnet]

It's pity how the government handle this land lease issue.I think they should be smart dealing with these investors and have more laws into the paper than just two page agreement.Saying that but i don't go as far as saying the government is selling the country.

[abnet]

The koga irrigation project 92% completed.

Koga irrigation project 92 per cent complete: Ministry
Thursday, 12 May 2011

Addis Ababa, May 12 (WIC) – The Koga Irrigation and Watershed Management Project being built with an outlay of 800 million birr was more than 92 per cent completed, according to the Ministry of Water and Energy.



Ministry Public Relations and Communication Directorate Director, Bizuneh Tolch, told WIC today that the dam, scheduled for completion recently, will have the capacity to hold 83.1 million cubic meters of water.



He said about 3, 684 farmers have already begun to develop more than 1,842 hectares of land since part of the project went operational following the completion of the construction of the main dam.



The project would help irrigate 7,000 hectares of land when it is fully completed, thereby enabling over 32,000 farmers to carry out various development activities, he indicated.



It (the project) would also help rehabilitate more than 22,000 hectares of exhausted land, he indicated.



The budget for the implementation of the project was obtained from African Development Bank (AfDB).



2011 , waltainfo.com.

[abnet]

Ribb irrigation project in amhara region progressing well

Ribb Irrigation, Drainage project well in progress
Tuesday, 17 May 2011


Addis Ababa, May 17 (WIC) –The construction of Ribb Irrigation and Drainage Project, being constructed on Ribb River, a tributary of Abay River, is well in progress, Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE) said.



Bezuneh Tolcha, Public Relations and Communications Directorate Director at MoWE, told WIC that the main course of the project has been successfully completed.



The Project, which is estimated to cost 1.6 billion birr, will have a capacity to hold 234 million cubic meter of water covering over 1,000 ha of land.



“The dam will have the capacity to develop over 20,000 ha of land through irrigation,” Bezuneh told WIC. “This will be beneficial to over 40,000 farmers”.



According to the Director, Ribb Irrigation and Drainage Project was launched in 2009 and is planned to be completed in two years time.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 17 May 2011 )

[Yoniii]

It will be interesting to see the boost in agricultural output when all these irrigation projects are operational.

[Skyliner123]

Yoniii,

Do you like Ribbs?......I do

[Yoniii]

I love almost anything that has to do with meat.

[Addiscity]

Very interesting talk the Ethiopian PM had with the Ethiopian inverters; it shows both the government and the Ethiopian investors lack truest between them. And the PM is pleading with the investors to work with the government in order to stabiles the rising of food price and other substances.

PM Meles Zenawi talks with Ethiopian Investors in Addis Ababa - Part 1
http://www.ethiotube.net/video/14106...-Ababa--Part-1

PM Meles Zenawi talks with Ethiopian Investors in Addis Ababa - Part 2
http://www.ethiotube.net/video/14107...-Ababa--Part-2

[Ahadu]

Originally Posted by Yoniii

I love almost anything that has to do with meat.

Shifta...

[Ahadu]

Originally Posted by Addiscity

Very interesting talk the Ethiopian PM had with the Ethiopian inverters; it shows both the government and the Ethiopian investors lack truest between them. And the PM is pleading with the investors to work with the government in order to stabiles the rising of food price and other substances. [/URL]

They (investors) just don't get it - bunch of idiots. They do everything (including cheating) when they are investing in Real Estate & service rather than investing in Agriculture / manufacturing / agro industry......opening a Hotel with no meat / egg / bread it just doesn't make sense........but, they are (including the public) quick to complain if an investor from outside is investing in Agriculture. I say, let the Indians come in to show & to give some lesson to that lazy azz.....

[mike7743]

Some US$6 billion budget has been endored by Ethiopia's council of ministers for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. It is the Horn of Africa country's biggest budget endorsement on record.


80 percent of some US$ 2 billion allotted for capital budget projects are expected to go into infrastructure development (mainly roads), social services (including education and health), agriculture and water development.
Map of Ethiopia

Map of Ethiopia

The remaining will be used to support the nine regional states of the country during the fiscal year, between July 8, 2011 and June 23, 2012.

According to the Ethiopian council of ministers, who endorsed the budget after reviewing the current political and economic situation of the country, this year's budget exceeds last year's by around US$ 2 billion.

“The budget increase was made due to the current economic growth of the country,” said Abraham Tekeste, Ethiopia’s minister of Finance and Economic Development.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has also announced that about US$ 3.6 billion of the total budget will be sourced from local resources while the remaining will be mobilized in the form of loans and grants from Ethiopia’s development partners.

Over US$1 billion of the money will come from grants, while the country's development partners will provide some US$ 850 billion.

Ethiopia has, for the first time, allocated over $ 750 million to support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs aim to slash extreme poverty and hunger by half by 2015.


http://www.theafricareport.com/archi...-20112012.html

[abnet]

Largest cotton farm in Tigray region brings land holdings to 7400ht(16,280 acre)

Addisfortune.com


Last Updated 06/13/2011


Largest Cotton Farm in Tigray Brings Land Holdings to 7,400ht

Almicom aims to increase national cotton production to ease shortage faced by local textile producers



The largest cotton plantation owner in Tigray Regional State, Almicom Agricultural Development, added 2,000ht to the land it holds on Thursday, June 9, 2011, to increase cotton production and ease the shortage faced by local textile factories.

Due to the shortage, the government placed a prohibition on the export of raw cotton in September 2010. In 2010, Ethiopia imported around 12tn of cotton. Cotton production stood at 21,000tn over the past 10 months, an amount the government plans to increase to 98,000tn by the end of 2014/15.

The latest addition to Almicom’s land holding is located in Hewane Wereda of Tigray Regional State’s southern zone, which is known for its underground water reserves made accessible through hand dug wells. The land was leased from the regional government on a 25-year basis at an annual cost of 100 Br for a hectare.

Almicom, a subsidiary of Kebire Enterprises, which was established in April 2001, leased 5,400ht in Kafta Humera Wereda, located around 75km from Humera Town, in the western zone of Tigray Regional State, in 2009.

The zone is close to the Kaza River, making it well suited for the irrigation project the company plans.

Out of the total, Almicom planted 3,000ht in June 2010, from which it harvested 33,000ql in October.

“We only planted on a fraction of the land because it was a trial and because we faced a shortage in cotton seeds and pesticide,” Tesfaye Belay, farm manager of Almicom, told Fortune.

Almicom, which was established in 2009 with 110 million Br in capital, supplies cotton to factories, including MAA Garment Factory, its sister company.

“MAA Garment Factory has been transitioning to include textile manufacturing,” said Fikreselassie Ambaw, general manager of the factory. “It has a spinning mill factory, a knitting factory, as well as dying and finishing facilities. The expansion helped it increase its annual exports from 500,000 dollars to nine million dollars.”

MAA, which exports around 90pc of its total annual production, is the second largest exporter of textiles and garments of the more than 70 factories nationwide.

It earned 3.4 million dollars in revenue over the past nine months, while Ayka Addis Textile & Investment Group earned 23.3 million dollars, according to the Textile Industry Development Institute (TIDI). They are followed by Almeda Textile and Adama Yarn which earned 1.9 million dollars and 1.2 million dollars, respectively, according to the institute.

The government’s GTP envisions textile and garment exports to reach one billion dollars by the end of 2014/15.

As part of its transition, MAA has been spinning and knitting cotton for the past 18 months and plans to start weaving, which improves the quality of the fabric, in two years, according to Fikreselassie.

However, the harvest yielded during Almicom’s trial period produced only an average of 11ql on a hectare, causing the factory to start looking for first class quality cotton seed varieties that can yield up to 35ql on a hectare, according to Tesfaye.

As the recently received 2,000ht of land still needs clearing, Amicom is only planting the 5,400ht in Humera this month. June, the beginning of rainy season, is the plating season for the cotton plant after which it takes about four months to ripen.

There is more than 114,000ht of arable land in Humera Wereda, but only 112,600ht have been leased for agricultural development, claimed an official at the regional land management and usage agency.

Amicom originally requested to lease a total of 9,400ht and expects to receive the remaining 2,000ht after the irrigation project in Humera come online and the factory completes its shift to textile production, according to Tesfaye.

By AMANUEL ASMELASH
FORTUNE STAFF WRITER

[rasta55]

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20...siebert-text/1
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Ethiopia's east central highlands were once one of most botanically diverse spots on Earth, but by the 1970s farmers here were down to growing just teff and a few varieties of wheat distributed to them for its high-yield potential. Today the region has been transformed: Local varieties of legumes and wheat are thriving again. Given the common depiction of Ethiopia as famine prone, it is startling to drive an hour northeast of Addis Ababa and see ample fields of a bushy, purple-seeded durum wheat, a variety found only in Ethiopia that is thriving across the country. Used for pasta, durum is largely resistant to stem rust. In one field is another local variety native to Ethiopia known as setakuri, which translates as "pride of women," because it makes the sweetest bread. It is doing even better against stem rust.



Ethiopia's turnaround can be traced in part to the efforts of renowned plant geneticist Melaku Worede, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska in 1972, then returned to Ethiopia with the goal of preserving—and rebuilding—the country's rich biodiversity. Training a new generation of plant breeders and geneticists, Worede and his staff at the Plant Genetic Resources Centre in Addis Ababa set about collecting and storing native plants and seeds, known as landraces, from across the country. In 1989 Worede initiated the Seeds of Survival program, a network of community seed banks that save and redistribute the seeds of local farmers.



Worede is hopeful that new efforts to increase food production—such as the Gates Foundation's Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa—will not repeat the mistakes of the past. Attempts are being made to include local farmers in decision-making. "The people planning this are aware that the first green revolution failed over time. There are some intelligent ideas," Worede says. "But they are still placing too much emphasis on a narrow range of varieties. What about the rest? We'll lose them. Believe me, I'm not against science. Why would I be? I'm a scientist. But contextualize it. Combine science with the local knowledge, the farmer's science."

Worede believes it is crucial to preserve the region's diversity not just in seed banks but on the ground and in close consultation with local farmers. Although yield is obviously important to farmers, even more crucial is hedging their bets against famine, spreading the risk by growing many crops, over many seasons, in many locations. In this way if one crop gets diseased, or one harvest succumbs to drought, or one hillside is flooded, they have alternatives to fall back on.

The challenge has been to show it's possible to increase productivity without sacrificing diversity. Worede wanted to prove that deciding between having enough to eat today and preserving food biodiversity for tomorrow is a false choice. And he has done precisely that. He has taken the varieties farmers selected for their adaptability and determined which of them promise the best yield. The use of high-yielding local seeds—in combination with natural fertilizers and techniques such as intercropping—has improved yield as much as 15 percent above that of the imported, high-input varieties. A parallel effort is under way with local indigenous livestock breeds. Keith Hammond, a UN expert on animal genetics, says that in 80 percent of the world's rural areas the locally adapted genetic resources are superior to imported breeds.

Still, a 15 percent increase is far from the doubling of our food supply experts say we'll need in future decades. Preserving food diversity is only one of many strategies we'll need to meet that challenge, but it is a crucial one. As the world warms, and the environment becomes less hospitable to the breeds and seeds we now rely on for food, humanity will likely need the genes that allow plants and animals to flourish in, say, the African heat or in the face of recurring blight. Indeed, Worede thinks scientists may well find the Ug99-resistant varieties they're looking for in Ethiopia's fields. "Even if the disease mutates into a new form, it will not wipe out everything here. That is the advantage of diversity."

Yet Worede balks at the idea of the developed world treating Vavilov centers like Ethiopia as wild seed banks from which to withdraw traits whenever the next plague strikes. He cites the outbreak in the early 1970s of yellow dwarf virus, which threatened to wipe out the world's barley crop. A U.S. scientist who had come to Ethiopia in the 1960s had happened to grab some barley samples from a field for his own study. When the virus hit, he handed over the samples to one of the scientists trying to stop the virus. Sure enough they found a resistant gene. "It changed everything," says Worede, "at no cost to them. No genetic engineering, nothing. Just a natural source of resistance taken from the very part of Ethiopia where people were suffering from starvation."

Mohammed and his neighbor stood in silence above their own private earthen seed bank that afternoon in Welo. Since the famine of 1984, they don't even think of selling any grain until they know what the harvest has brought. I asked whether the bounty I'd seen in their fields had them feeling a bit more secure and optimistic.

"It will be nice to have some extra money," Mohammed began, "so we can send our kids to school in good clothes, but …" He paused, looking over at his neighbor, then gave an answer I've come to think might perfectly describe the attitude we all should adopt when it comes to securing our future food supply.

"We're positive," Mohammed said. "But we're very sensitive to risk."

[enkelfam]

http://www.addisfortune.com/news_radar.htm



Gebisa Ejeta (left), director of Purdue University’s Institute of Food Security, and the 2009 World Food Prize Laureate, addresses a crowd of experts and government representatives while Donald Booth, US ambassador to Ethiopia (centre), and Seleshi Getahun, state minister of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), listen. The three individuals spoke at a seminar focusing on “Capacity Development for Agricultural Transformation and Food Security in Ethiopia,” a dialogue meant to examine methods to make tertiary education more responsive to the new Agricultural Growth Plan. The forum took place on Tuesday, July 12, 2011, at Jupiter Hotel.

Good man

[abesha]

Ethiopia coffee exports hit record high

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia earned a record $841.6 million from the export of nearly 200,000 tonnes of coffee in 2010/2011, trade data showed on Wednesday, thanks to lower output from traditional giants Colombia and Brazil and higher demand from India and China.

Africa's biggest coffee producer intends to boost its agricultural output by 2015, raising coffee to 700,000 tonnes from 300,000 tonnes, under a five-year economic development plan launched last year.

High global commodity prices and the introduction in 2008 of a commodity exchange market, which promoted transparent trading instead of a murky auction system, helped lift coffee production to 196,118 tonnes in the 2010/2011 fiscal year, exporters said.

Trade data from the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association said the revenue figure represented a 59 percent rise compared to revenue earned in 2009/2010 and 124 percent from 2008/2009.

"The price has doubled over the year and farmers have reaped their fruit. Everyone was encouraged to bring coffee to the local market," said Hailu Gebrehiwot, an exporter and former head of the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association.

Prices for Ethiopia's specialty Sidamo beans reached 1,500 Ethiopian birr for 17-kilograms in 2010/2011, up from 600 birr last year, Hailu added.

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, which trades coffee, maize, sesame and white pea beans through an open outcry system, has said it was looking to introduce future and forward trading in a country where hoarding is common among traders wary of price volatility.

Coffee traders in Ethiopia have repeatedly held on to their stocks, reluctant to sell through the new exchange saying prices were too low, sparking authorities to warn of seizures.

The government seized 17,000 tonnes of the crop in 2009 and revoked the licences of six exporters it accused of hoarding their stocks and waiting for prices to rise.

"With the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), the flow of coffee trading is streamlined - it means there's less contraband business going on," Hailu told Reuters.

Ethiopia prides itself as the birthplace of coffee. Some 15 million smallholder farmers grow the crop, mostly in the forested highlands in the huge country's west and southwest.

The Horn of Africa nation projects it will earn $3 billion in export revenue for 2010/11 (July-June) after a resurgence of coffee sales and diversification into new commodities earned $2 billion in the previous year.

http://af.reuters.com/article/invest...110727?sp=true

A massive increase on previous years.