Stakeholders in Ethiopia have called for more investment in digital innovation to improve the productivity and digital transformation of the agriculture sector.

The call was made at the launch workshop for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s project, “Global Network of Digital Agriculture Innovation Hubs”, which was held in Adama, Ethiopia on 24 February 2022.

In his opening remarks, Germame Garuma, Extension Director-General, Ethiopia, said the new project would enhance the efforts to advance the digitalization of Ethiopia’s agriculture sector.

“We are launching this project at a time when the Government of Ethiopia has embraced digital services in the Ministry of Agriculture”, he added.

The workshop

Over 50 participants, representing the Government of Ethiopia, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, development partners, farmer organizations, the media and FAO, attended the workshop.

They shared experiences from existing digitalization initiatives in the agriculture sector and highlighted the need for a stakeholder coordination mechanism to build synergies and promote knowledge sharing at national and international levels. The stakeholders also discussed implementation modalities, timelines and expected outcomes of the project.

Project aims and activities

The “Global Network of Digital Agriculture Innovation Hubs” project is part of a broader FMM global programme also being implemented in Dominica, Grenada and Morocco.

It aims to contribute to the digital transformation of agrifood systems, increasing productivity, managing climate risks and diversifying rural economies.

The programme is implementing in-country innovation hubs in conjunction with country institutions to accelerate the development and uptake of digital innovations and support farmers and value chain actors to be more competitive, especially youth and women.

Specifically, the project is creating national digital agriculture innovation hub models to spearhead digital innovation programs in agriculture that meet local needs. Furthermore, the project is developing digital agriculture solutions to support agrifood systems transformation and facilitate the creation of sustainable business models to support innovation projects through public-private partnerships. In addition, the project is supporting the capacity development of government institutions to formulate digital agriculture strategies, policies or programmes to mainstream digital innovation in agrifood systems and establish sustainable national digital agriculture innovation hubs. In addition, it will facilitate knowledge exchange and sharing within the national hub and across the global network, by organizing joint events and platforms.

Speaking on behalf of the FAO Representative Fatouma Seid, international agribusiness specialist Pie Njinginya said that through the project, “FAO is building synergies with other ongoing initiatives, including the Hand-in-Hand Initiative, the use of information communication technologies in beneficiary registration, the use of vouchers in input distribution and complaints and feedback mechanisms, among others”.

Funding and implementation modalities  

The Government of Ethiopia, through the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance, and FAO are collaboratively implementing the project from 2021 to 2023. Other counterparts include academia, the private sector, farmers and farmer organizations.

The global project is funded through the Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism to the tune of USD one million, of which USD 210 000 is for activities in Ethiopia.