New FAO projects to advance Ethiopia’s agro-industrial development
27 November 2020, Addis Ababa - In 2009, the Government of Ethiopia adopted the agro-industrial strategy to transform the agricultural sector and boost the economy. A high-level consultative process led to the identification of 17 growth corridors in the country and the selection of four pilot agro-industrial parks in Oromia, Amhara, Tigray, and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' (SNNP) regions.
Agro-industrial parks are integrated infrastructures composed of required facilities for investors to settle – warehouses, processing facilities, water, electricity, business registration services, among others. In addition, complementary facilities including Rural Transformation Centers, aggregation, and primary processing centers for farmers to bring their supply, en-route to the parks are developed alongside the Parks.
In support of this process, FAO provided technical support to the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct an in-depth strategic value chains analysis on 12 agricultural commodities in the four pilot Integrated Agro-Industrial Parks.
In 2019, following the publication of the studies, FAO and the European Union (EU) supported the Government to develop investment plans for the growth and transformation of Agro-Commodity Procurement Zones (ACPZ) - delineated territories surrounding and supplying the parks with raw materials. The ACPZ investment plans include a set of intervention packages and a budget program aimed at improving production, productivity, and the supply chain, as well as strengthening the institutional capacities.
Concerned about the slow pace of achieving the outcomes of the investment plans, the Government requested FAO for technical assistance to speed up the ACPZs development programs.
New Hand-in-Hand initiative project
In response, FAO has launched a three-year (2020 – 2023) USD 500 000 Technical Cooperation Project that is in line with the Organization’s Hand-in-Hand initiative.
Hand-in-Hand is FAO’s evidence-based, country-led, and country-owned initiative to accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development to eradicate poverty (SDG 1) and end hunger and all forms of malnutrition (SDG2). The initiative prioritizes countries where national capacities and international support are the most limited or where operational challenges, including natural- or man-made crises, are the greatest.
The new Project targets the poorest while proposing differentiated strategies for the ACPZ; identifying bottlenecks in implementation and promoting policy coherence; mapping out technical assistance, and bringing stakeholders together. The specific objective of the Project is to increase ACPZ development implementation efficiency to increase productivity and supply of raw materials through the attainment of the following two outputs:
1. Bottlenecks inhibiting enhanced productivity and production of raw materials identified and addressed.
2. Institutional setting for ACPZ development strengthened and implementation, coordination and monitoring plans/tools developed.
Speaking at the Africa Regional Conference on 27 October 2020, Ethiopia's Minister of Agriculture, Ato Oumer Hussien, said Hand-in-Hand fitted in with one of his country's priorities: "the development of integrated agro-industries to enhance market-orientated agricultural production, create employment opportunities and ensure inclusive development".
The expected outcome of the Project is “a clear coordination framework, action plans, recommendations and lessons learned on ACPZ implementation to allow for easy replication of the planning methodology for the development of other ACPZ”.
“The adoption of the Hand-in-Hand approach at FAO’s corporate-level happened at an opportune time for FAO in Ethiopia when the Government, FAO and the United Nations are developing new development plans. All the plans demonstrate the Government of Ethiopia and partners’ commitment to ending hunger and reducing poverty - key objectives of the Hand-in-Hand initiative”, said Fatouma Seid, the FAO Representative in Ethiopia.
“Inclusive and Sustainable Value Chain Development in Oromia and SNPP regions”
As a contribution to the agro-industrial development programme, FAO Ethiopia with financial support from the Italian Government also developed the project “Technical Assistance to Inclusive and Sustainable Value Chain Development in Oromia and SNNP regions". It provides technical support to the Ministry of Agriculture to implement a bilateral soft loan amounting 30 million Euros.
The project aims to enhance productivity and address bottlenecks inhibiting the development of wheat, tomato, and avocado, and pineapple in two ACPZ in Oromia and SNNPR and Sidama regions.
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Contact
Rachel Nandelenga
Communications Consultant
FAO Ethiopia