Come Into The Garden, MoARD

The Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) in Addis Ababa has earmarked 400,000 hectares of land in the Rift Valley, Dire Dawa, Dedesa Valley and Tana Beles Corridors for vegetable, fruit and horticulture production.

The Ministry’s aim is to improve the quality and productivity of farms in the areas in question and, in collaboration Privatisation and Public Enterprises Supervisory Agency (PPESA), to privatize state-owned horticulture enterprises active there.

Horticultural investment will now be concentrated in the areas allocated, where produce is very high in quality and the farming community is fully aware of the requirements needed to maintain standards. The scheme will be implemented by the Ministry’s Vegetables, Fruits, and Horticulture Development Department.

Speaking to the Addis Fortune newspaper, the head of the Department, Workafes Woldetsadik, said that the Ministry and the Department were ‘fully prepared and eager to work with investors that are interested in entering the sector’.

In 2005/2006, Ethiopia earned revenues of12 million dollars from horticulture exports to Djibouti and the European Union (EU).

Source:
Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
www.addisfortune.com