issue 4, december 2017 - entagentag.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/5th-platform... · ethiopian...

ContentsFiFth Poultry sector

PlatForm meeting

FiFth sPices sector PlatForm meeting

FiFth aquaculture PlatForm meeting

Fourth legumes PlatForm meeting

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ENTAG Newsletter, Issue 4, December 2017 |

ENTAG is part of the BENEFIT program implemented by the Wageningen University and Research with the support of the Royal Dutch Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The FiFTh poulTry SecTor plaTForm meeTing

by Demeke Wondmagegn

NewsletterIssuE 4, DEcEmbEr 2017

Ethiopia–Netherlands Trade for Agricultural Growth (ENTAG) is a 4-year program financed by the Royal Dutch Embassy in Addis Ababa, and hosted by the BENEFIT-office of Wageningen University and Research in Addis Ababa.

ENTAG aims to:

⌐ Stimulate agribusiness in Ethiopia to contribute to enhancing food, income and trade sustainability.

⌐ Increase agribusiness productivity, trade and foreign direct investment by strengthening the private sector in working more effectively with smallholders in applying new technologies and accessing finance for investment purposes.

The fifth platform meeting week of ENTAG was held in November 2017 at Addis Ababa and Bishoftu, Ethiopia. It involved four sectors: Aquaculture, Poultry, Spices and Legumes.

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ENTAG Poultry sector platform is an initiative that takes place on quarterly basis under joint effort of ENTAG and Ethiopian Poultry Association to discuss pertinent issue of the sector arising over time.

In its Fifth Poultry Platform meeting, the ENTAG program organized the platform with the purpose of enriching the draft poultry regulation document, which has been prepared by the Ministry of Livestock and Fishery. The overall objective of the workshop was to create opportunity for the private sector stakeholders to comment on and provide input to the draft regulation.

Participants of the meeting were drawn from the private sector, NGOs, the sector association, research institutions and government agencies. Mr. Mulugeta Abebe, a senior poultry expert, from the Ministry, presented the draft poultry regulation paper. Following the presentation participants had group discussion on six main parts of the draft regulation:

Poultry health;

Poutry development & investment;

Poultry production & taxation;

Feed;

Research, and

Extension.

The participants in their plenary discussion suggested that the new regulation should incorporate strategies and standards related to biosecurity and vaccines. They proposed that it should highlight standards related to poultry production and products. They also emphasised the likely regulation to incorporate incentives packages for poultry investment, marketing and development. Regardin, research and extension, participants recommended the regulation to highlight strategies for linking research outputs to the regular agricultural extension system in the country.

A presentation on the experiences of the recent Rwanda Trade Mission was made by one of the participants of the mission. The presenter highlighted major parts of the mission to Kigali, Rwanda, which was organized by the ENTAG program. Participants of the mission, who were selected from the private sector, MoLF, Ethiopian poultry association, research institutions and ENTAG had the opportunity to visit state-of-the-art poultry technologies and factories as well as to take part in the international poultry conference and expo.

The next priority of the sector platform will be working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries including other important stakeholders for the realization of workable poultry policy that would motivate the entire value chain to enhance production and productivity.


The abundant farming land and prevalence of diverse agroecology make Ethiopia suitable for production and export of more than 21 types of herbs. However, limited awareness and expertise, limited access to modern production and processing technologies, lack of well-established local and export market, and lack of access to finance are hindering the country from exploring the untapped business opportunities of the herbs sector.

In light of this, the ENTAG program organized its fifth Spice, Herbs and Aromatic sector platform meeting on the challenges and the opportunities of the Herbs subsector in Ethiopia. The platform meeting, organized in collaboration with Ethiopian Spices Association, was held on November 24 2017, at Bin International Hotel, Bishoftu, Ethiopia.

The main objective of the meeting was to create awareness on the potential of the Ethiopian herbs sector for agribusiness and to facilitate linkage & networking among actors in the sector. Participants representing research institutions, private companies, unions and government organizations attended the one day meeting, which was composed of presentations, panel discussion and

field visit to Debrezeit Agricultural Research Center.

Presentations of the meeting were made by:

⌐ Wondo Genet Agricultural Research Center on research findings of herbs production and marketing;

⌐ JoyTech Fresh Herbs PLC on the company’s experience in production technologies and export of Herbs;

⌐ Bank of Abyssinia on access to finance and opportunities for private companies that are active in the Spices, Herbs and Aromatics sector.

The Spices sector coordinator of ENTAG also provided an update on the activities of the program in the Spices, Herbs and Aromatics subsector. The coordinator highlighted the technical support that ENTAG has been providing to private Ethiopian & foreign companies and Ethiopian farmer unions. As part of its activities, through the market linkage support, ENTAG supported four local companies to export 1233Mt of Turmeric, which is worth of $1.3 Million, to India. This volume

The FiFTh SpiceS SecTor plaTForm meeTing

by Addisu Alemayehu


of export was successful because of the Spice Trade Mission to India, which was organized by the ENTAG program in April 2017.

During the panel session, issues related to addressing the bottlenecks that are hindering the development of the sector were discussed with panelists delegated from Ethiopian Coffee, Tea and Spices Authority, Ministry of Industry, Ethiopian Investment Commission and Ethiopian Revenue & Customs Authority.

Action points: ⌐ To work on increased

coordination, networking and business to business experience sharing platforms that bring actors of the subsector together;

⌐ To strengthen the research and extension systems of the country and their integration to reach smallholder farmers via out growers and contractual farming;

⌐ To focus on awareness of crucial decision and policy makers regarding the contribution of subsector for poverty reduction and development of the country;

⌐ To work more on the financial sustainability of organizing platform meetings and business networking;

⌐ Commercial farmers and exporters should work more on market development and widen their export market.


The FiFTh aquaculTure plaTForm meeTing

by Abebe Ameha Mengistu (PhD)

Fish is regarded to hold some of the most important nutritional requirements for humans. In Ethiopia, however, fish consumption is lower than the average per capita known for Africa and the world. Ethiopian per capita fish consumption is less than 0.5 kg, which is far below the average for Africa (< 10 kg) and the world (~ 20 kg). The contribution of aquaculture is almost nil to the current fish market and fish culinary services are more of traditional than modern. Recently, fish specialty restaurants are emerging in Addis Ababa and regional towns by enthusiastic entrepreneurs.

In line with this, ENTAG organized the Fifth Aquaculture Platform Meeting on the role of “Fish for Nutritional Security and Culinary Services” in Ethiopia. The aim of the meeting was to discuss issues pertaining to aquaculture and fish marketing in the context of the National Nutrition Policy, food quality/standards control, demand/supply, and culinary services in Ethiopia. The half-day meeting was held at Azzeman Hotel, Addis Ababa

on November 23, 2017.

Mr. Hussein Abegaz, Director of Fisheries Resource Development at the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, gave opening remarks of the meeting. Talks were given by Dr Paulos Getachew, Assistant Professor at the Centre for Food Science and Nutrition Research (Addis Ababa University) and Mr Fiseha Sisay, Executive Chef, at the International Livestock Research Institute (Addis Ababa). Participants were drawn from private sector, associations, government agencies, Non-government/international organizations, education/research and ENTAG/BENEFIT).

Panel discussion was held with panellists from the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Health, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, and Ethiopian Food, Medicine and Health Administration and Control Authority.

Representatives of the Triangular Aquaculture Mission from FAO (Rome), China and the Netherlands addressed the


meeting about their aspirations to involve in capacity building programs in Ethiopian aquaculture. Members of the Mission also indicated that they learnt a lot about the status and complex challenges in the aquaculture value chain.

At the end of the meeting, different types of fish recipes were displayed and served for the participants.

Major points summarized from the panel discussion:

⌐ There is a huge potential for entrepreneurship in fish production and culinary services;

⌐ Low supply of fish (type and quantity) to the local market (to hotels, restaurants, households) and low skill level of chefs in fish food preparation;

⌐ Low quality of fish products at production, transportation, storage and cooking levels;

⌐ Lack of government incentives and commitment in the extension work of the sector;

⌐ Effect of cultural and religious norms on fish eating habits of the society.


The FourTh legumeS plaTForm meeTing

by Yemisrach Aseffa, SYS

The Fourth Legume business platform meeting was held on December 14, 2017 at Azzeman Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. About 25 stakeholders from export, food processing, input supply, government institutes and projects took part in the meeting.

The program contained two major elements:

⌐ The National Pulses Strategy

⌐ The need to have an Ethiopian Pulses Council

Besides, an issue that demands immediate attention came up, namely the trade barriers levied by India and Pakistan.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resource Management presented the

strategic roadmap of the National Pulses Strategy. Basic seed availability and seed quality assurance, pulse seed business profitability and its market were points of discussion by participants. As a follow-up, a seed strategy will be developed and a seed platform is underway to be organized.

Consequently, as part of the strategy and the current need of the stakeholders from the former platform meetings, the need for an Ethiopian Pulses Council was also presented. The need for a pulse council took the discussion focuses on:

⌐ the rationale to have the council;

⌐ the naming;

⌐ the composition and the leader of the council;

⌐ how to make the council financially sustainable.

The platform participants fully agreed on the rationale to have a council that works on the challenges arising along the value chain and thoroughly discussed on the leadership and synergy with other existing sector associations like EPOSPEA and the Ethiopian Fortified Food Producers Association (EFFPA). Based on the ideas discussed, a pragmatic proposal on the leadership, organization and synergy with other entities will be developed and communicated further.

India and Pakistan, being the second and third major importers of Ethiopian pulses respectively, levied a trade barrier and ban


on Ethiopian Pulses. India imposed a 50% import tariff and mandatory Methyl Bromide fumigation, which is banned in Ethiopia, while Pakistan put a trade ban because of fungicide infestation.

These trade barriers require an immediate diplomacy effort and high-level decision making to prevent a dramatic export cut and loss of foreign currency earning. A task-force was organized to frame the challenges of the trade barriers and bring it to the attention of H.E. Minster of Trade and his Ministry to highlight the

sense of urgency and seriousness of the problem at hand. Hence, a concept paper will be developed, which will be shared to the task force and will be communicated to the Minister within a week time.

ENTAG Legume Business Platform participants together with EPOSPEA will take ownership and drive for the case.

ContaCt us | [email protected] and www.entag.org In the Netherlands: Monika Sopov – Program coordinator [email protected] +31 317 481 406In Ethiopia: Gertjan Becx – Program Manager [email protected] +251 91 266 0725 Helen Getaw Yalew – Deputy Program Manager [email protected] +251 91 148 8453 Demeke Wondmagegn Mengiste – Poultry PSA and SPL Coordinator [email protected] +251 98 495 8023 Abebe Ameha Mengistu – Aquaculture PSA and SPL Coordinator [email protected] +251 98 330 0496 Addisu Alemayehu Ferede – Spice PSA and SPLCoordinator [email protected] +251 96 679 0462

Photo and Design: Theodros Girma

issue 4, december 2017 - entagentag.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/5th-platform... · ethiopian...

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