The Ethiopian Horticulture & Agriculture Investment Authority has outfitted 3,000ha of state owned farms located in three sites for horticulture development following a direction from the Office of the Prime Minister. The transfer is waiting for approval from the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) Board.
The transfer was decided three months ago with the main aim of boosting export earnings made from flowers, according to Tadesse Haile, state minister for Exports & Investment in the Economic Section at the Prime Minister’s Office.
“We found out that land is the primary constraint for horticulture developments and we moved one step forward to solve it,” Tadesse told Fortune.
The farms are located in Ziway, Hawassa, and Bahir Dar.
The first farm is based in Shallo, five kilometers away from Hawassa, with a total area coverage of 1,200ha. The second farm has the same size and is located in Alage Agriculture Technical Vocational Education & Training College (ATVET), 30km away from Ziway.
On the third site, located around Bahir Dar, there are two farms; in Qunzula, 56km from Bahir Dar, covering 1,200ha, and another 200ha in Bahir Dar which was previously given to investors but seized from them for failing to develop the land.
“All of the farms were used for agricultural research,” said Adugna Debella (PhD), deputy chief executive officer (CEO) of the Ethiopian Horticulture & Agriculture Investment Authority (EHAIA).
Prior to selecting the areas, EHAIA conducted studies to identify which region had a favourable environment and at the same time had large farms owned by the state. Experts from the Netherlands’ Connecting Diaspora for Development (CD4D) partnered with the Authority in the assessment and research process.
During the study, the Authority sampled farms in Arba Minch, Abaya, Yirgalem, Wolqite, Shinele, Birsheleqo and Bahir Dar. Since selecting the three sites, the Authority has been promoting the farms to local investors as well as investors in the Netherlands.
For the transfer process, the Authority prepared three documents and sent them to the Ethiopian Investment Commission Board last week for approval, according to Adugna.
The documents submitted to the EIC board are screening procedures, site coordinate history and model site maps of the plots. The master plan made for the farms allocated 25ha as a minimum size for a single investor, but the size can be extended depending on a request from the investors.
To secure the farms, so far 18 foreign investors, mainly from the Netherlands, have applied to the Authority.
Currently, the country has a total area of 1,500ha that is covered by horticulture varieties. During the just ended fiscal year, the horticulture industry generated 271 million dollars from exports.
“This is not incremental, rather transformational,” Tadesse told Fortune.
The country is targeted to earn 433 million dollars from horticulture export by the end of this fiscal year and half a billion dollars by the end of the second edition of the Growth & Transformation Plan (GTP). In Ethiopia, almost about 12,552ha of land is suitable for horticulture but only 11pc of this is cultivated with horticulture varieties.
“This will avoid the hustle that investors face at regional investment bureaus while requesting land,” said a CEO at one of the flower farms, who wished to remain anonymous.
The major market destination for the Ethiopian horticulture produce is Europe, mainly the Netherlands. But, there are about 100 international destinations for Ethiopian flowers, vegetables, herbs, cuttings and fruit. Recently, Americans, Russians and the Middle East have become buyers of Ethiopian horticulture varieties.
Currently, members registered with the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers & Exporters Association (EHPEA) are 75 active businesses engaged in producing flowers, cuttings, ornamental plants, fruit, vegetables and herbs for the export market.
“The investors who have applied for the farms are invited to visit the farms by the beginning of September, as we expect that the documents will be approved,” said Adugna.
For the global concerns on the environmental effect of flower farms, the Authority is working on adopting wetland systems and checking the pesticides to be sprayed on the leaves and not on soil.
Wetland systems are highly controlled systems that intend to mimic the occurrences of soil, flora, and microorganisms in natural wetlands to treat wastewater effluent. The system will minimise the chemicals that come out of the greenhouses, and the farmers will also grow fish by the treated water.
“Wetland systems will be mandatory after the end of 2017,” said Adugna.
[addisfortune.net]