BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
The global COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis unlike any since the end of the Second World War (WW II). It is the most powerful sign to-date of what happens when uncontrolled expansion of human activity collides with the realities and boundaries of the planet.
This crisis will certainly not be the last one. As difficult as it might be to imagine today, COVID-19 may not be not the most devastating crisis to hit humanity in the first quarter or third of the 21st century.
There is much to be learnt from this pandemic – and to be done in response, now and into the future, at an individual, community, societal and global scale.
In the present day, the immediate implications of the crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are already very serious. Despite the still relatively small caseload, which gives a misleading impression of the scale and depth of the crisis, the sharp deterioration of global conditions and the response measures taken in the region to combat the pandemic have already precipitated a major socio-economic crisis.
Ethiopia has not been spared. The country faced the onset of the crisis with clear strengths. It has an excellent long-term track record of economic growth, major improvements in infrastructure, poverty reduction and social development.
The country also has an ambitious vision of economic transformation – captured in the Homegrown Economic Reform Program (HGER) – that builds on the foundation of past successes but also recognizes the macroeconomic, structural and sectoral shortfalls that have emerged as a consequence, requiring a different economic approach in the future.
Despite improvements, country’s health system, like most others in Sub-Saharan African countries (SSA) and in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), was not ready for a large-scale crisis: its readiness to deliver routine health services was rated at 55 present of requirements in 2018.
The socio-economic impacts being felt across Ethiopia already are wide-ranging and serious, with the potential to become severe, depending on the combination of the pandemic’s trajectory, the effects of counter-measures and underlying and structural factors.
A number of studies quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Ethiopian economy and assessing its effects on different groups have been already published including a comprehensive report by the United Nations and an analysis of the Planning and Development Commission.
However, in some sectors, the country is registering substantial achievements amidst the pandemic of COVID-19. For instance, exports of meat, horticulture and minerals are showing improvements, especially meat following the holy month of Ramadan, Of late, Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) disclosed that Ethiopia’s floriculture is keeping on working to contain the spread of the virus and mitigating the adverse effects of the pandemic.
EHPEA Executive Director Tewodros Zewdie said the sector is generating significant wealth for the national economy, while creating massive employment opportunities.
Acknowledging that COVID-19 initially posed existential threats on the very existence of the industry, the executive director said that his Association has taken pragmatic measures as well as managing not to have any layoff caused by the pandemic.
“If we look at the data of last year, it generated nearly 500 million USD,” Zewdie said, adding that this has been mitigating the adverse effects of COVID-19.
The industry had been rocked by the pandemic because boarder and logistics had broken as well farm areas were evacuated.
The Association worked to curb and minimize the impact; and has developed a strategy and let the pertinent stakeholders buy it specially the government.
The Ethiopian Airlines was the one that has helped the Association to realize its plan and be successful in the market. The Airline has not quite logistics route, it has also helped as market linkages where the boarders and shops are opened.
Sintayehu Kebede, General Manager of a wholesale plant nursery in Holeta Town, Oromia State, told Xinhua that the farm is operating with 500 workers, while observing all COVID-19 protocols. He said the farm is exporting to the Middle East, and to China.
“The majority of Chinese clients — they like tinted gypsophila as their order — we are making tinted and exporting. We have customers in China: Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai also.”
Getish Desta, a rose gardening line manager, explained what they have been doing before and since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the country.
“I have been here working for about five years. We were alert and aware of the issue even before the first case was confirmed here in Ethiopia.” Thus, they have been working with great care to contain the spread of the virus.
According to the Executive Director of the EHPEA, the country’s floriculture sees a bright future for a number of reasons, including, among others, availability of ample fertile land, surface water, and proximity to potential markets as well as initiatives of the government.
Ethiopia, after Kenya, has become Africa’s second largest flower exporter, according to Ministry of Agriculture.
The Ethiopian Herald March 4/2021