By promoting advocacy and policy dialogues, the CDAIS project, or Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems, will boost Ethiopia's capacity to innovate in agriculture, the Director General of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) Dr. Fentahun Mengistu said at the inception workshop that kick-started CDAIS in Ethiopia. Referring to the importance of CDAIS for Ethiopia, Dr. Mengistu pointed out that although the country's economy is developing quickly, Ethiopia still relies on agriculture as a key engine of growth.  

CDAIS, a global initiative in support of more productive and sustainable agricultural sectors, is implemented at country level through a partnership between FAO and Agrinatura - a consortium of 31 European universities and research institutes.

The inception workshop, held in Addis Ababa, was attended by key partners, including FAO, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Agrinatura as well as NGOs and Farmer Cooperatives. In his welcome speech, Mr. Amadou Allahoury, FAO Representative in Ethiopia, emphasized the importance of interaction, collaboration, partnership and joint endeavour among different actors to strengthen Ethiopia's capacity to innovate in agriculture. 

CDAIS's ultimate objective is to help develop national capacities to make  Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) more efficient and sustainable in meeting the demands of farmers, agri-business and consumers. 

Ethiopia is one of the eight pilot countries where CDAIS is allowing the implementation of the Common Framework on CD for AIS developed under Tropical Agriculture Platform (TAP). The other seven pilot countries are Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Honduras, Laos and Rwanda. 

Although Ethiopia has experienced impressive economic growth in recent years (+10,4 percent in 2014), agriculture remains the dominant sector of the economy, accounting for 46% of GDP, 73% of employment, and 80% of foreign export earnings.

More information about CDAIS in Ethiopia is available here.