ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia has earned 318 million USD from horticulture sector in the previous fiscal year, said Investment Commission (EIC).
Mekonen Hailu, Communication Director at EIC told The Ethiopian Herald Ethiopia’s foreign exchange earnings from horticulture are on the rise. While the export of flowers generates some 261 million USD, the rest 57 million USD came from the export of vegetables, fruits, and herbs respectively.
Flower is the most important export horticulture and plays a significant role in the country’s foreign currency and economic development, he added.
The horticultural products that the country exported to the world are mainly flower, vegetable, and fruit. Although the sector is only about a decade old, mechanized horticulture production has shown a great increase in farm number, revenue generation and volume of export.
Currently, more than 130 international investors are operating in Ethiopia’s horticulture sector, exporting to the Netherlands, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Belgium, UAE, France, Japan Italy, and the United States, among others, he noted.
The sector has also created more than 100 thousand jobs. Five Netherland companies are showing their interest to invest in the flower sector. As the horticulture products are perishable, these products should be high quality when being offered to the international market but due to power interruptions there was some impact on the quality of products, as to EIC.
The Ethiopian Herald August 29/2019
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
