BY BACHA ZEWDIE
“It is green in color and resembles a sorghum product or fruit. I guess it’s not common for many. The fact that the food ingredient is high and important and the price is more than teff, which costs up to nine thousand Birr per quintal, attracted my attention more,” EPA reporter stated.
Tadese Fakade, CEO of Wodera Multi-purpose Farmers’ Union in North Showa, Amhara Region, said that it is classified as an oilseed, and the crop is grown in Yifat Shewa Robit area of Amhara Region. It is called Green Gold Showa Masho.
Tadese believes that Apart from benefits to the producers, the crop earns foreign currency and will be more beneficial for the country’s economic development if it is brought to foreign market. The local producers would choose the same. Since the production is small, they prefer providing to market, but if it is produced in larger quantity and used by the people for food consumption, the nutrients contained in the crop are high, experts say.
According to the information from a social website about the production method of Masho crop, it is produced in countries such as India, China, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines. Recently, it has started to be produced in South Africa, Asia, Ethiopia and other countries.
Masho, which is new in Ethiopia, is not widely known by the farmers and its development is not extensive. As the crop is drought resistant, it is especially beneficial if it is grown in lowland areas with short rainfall. The production takes place from the beginning of July to the end of August.
An event was held at the Millennium Hall on Producers’ Day on September 9, 2022 under the motto “Joint Effort for National Development” and “Production for Universal Development” of North Shewa Multipurpose Farmers’ Cooperative Union. At the event, farmers presented with their products to introduce to the market. Although talking about the sweet crop, which is desirable in areas with short rainfall, is preferred as food, and has economic benefits in terms of earning foreign currency; it not only fulfills the efforts to be self-sufficient in food grains, but also fulfills the needs of the agro industry (food processing factory). The country has the potential to produce a product that can meet its needs.
According to the State Minister of Animal and Fisheries Sector of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fikru Regassa, during the four years of reform, Ethiopia has been working to increase the productivity of the agricultural, industrial, and mining sectors as well as to streamline the logistics transport system; increase the supply of products in the country; replace the various agricultural products imported with foreign currency and increase the quantity and quality for export. For this, the results recorded in the cultivation of wheat, vegetables and fruits and coffee are good indications.
He pointed out that the purpose of making the manufacturers to advertise and market their products and services is to create a consensus on the changes being recorded by the joint efforts of the manufacturers and the government to prepare for better results for the new fiscal year.
The Minister of Irrigation and Lowland Areas Development, Engineer Aisha Mohammed said on the platform that the Ministry is working under the motto “Irrigation for Food Sovereignty”. A country can stand firm when its sovereignty is protected. The Minister said that sovereignty is not only assured by fighting or having army, but when working to be self-sufficient in food grains.
She said that there are already indications that the war in the future will not be only with weapons. She mentioned the challenges occurred because of Ukraine, which is a supplier of wheat products to the world, due to the war with Russia. She also noted how much the countries that buy wheat from Ukraine have been affected. She expressed her concern that if the countries that buy wheat cannot produce and use it themselves, the future world war will be about food.
She further said that development should be accelerated to reduce risks, and irrigation is one of the most important factors for development. According to her explanation, irrigation development has been going on for a long time as a country, but it has not been able to be used as it should be. Agriculture remains rain dependent yet.
It is the time when supporting agriculture becomes mandatory through irrigation, which is the pillar of the country’s economic growth and has a large workforce. The government has made an effort to build irrigation infrastructure so that irrigation can be used for development.
In the past year’s crop season, the use of irrigation services contributed to the success of the agricultural sector. Irrigated cultivation of lowland and summer wheat can be mentioned here. Depriving agriculture of irrigation can have a significant negative impact on both agricultural productivity and the efficiency of industries.
The Minister announced that the Ministry is ready to enable the cultivation of about one million hectares of agricultural land through irrigation in order to achieve the country’s plan to earn foreign currency by providing it to the foreign market and to fulfill its mission in a better way. She said that they will carry out the mission together with the Ministry of Agriculture.
She mentioned that the Ministry is a bridge that works to connect the vast agricultural land and water resources used for production, and it has been given the responsibility to do this in an intensive manner.
According to her, another mission of the Ministry is development of pastoral or lowland areas, where pastoralism being a way of life. This has been accepted by various policies of the country. Considering that making it acceptable is not a goal by itself, an executive institution that enforces the policy is found to be necessary.
As the pastoral areas contain vast potential natural resources, the Ministry is leading as a policy executive office by creating a favorable environment for the resources available in the area to benefit both the environment and the country. It is ready to do effective work in this regard, she said.
State Minister of Industry, Tarekegn Gololcha, on his part said, “We have a population of 115 million. Of this, 70 percent is the producer. If we produce it, we can sell it and exchange it for profit. However, although we are blessed with natural gift and we have productive power, we are not productive as such; we are still trying to get into production.”
He also mentioned that it is possible to live as a sovereign country when it is possible to produce. In the agricultural sector, it is possible to process agricultural inputs and provide industry inputs as well. The government has created a favorable environment for the production of industrial products for various uses to achieve the plan.
The government has been fulfilling its responsibility by building large processing and industrial parks that produce various products and necessary infrastructure in order to achieve superior results by linking agriculture with industry, he stated.
The State Minister further said that it is very important to act in coordination to achieve high success by maintaining encouraging results. In order to solve industries’ problems; to ensure their sustainable competitiveness; to create a favorable environment for the national structural transformation, the Ministry of Industry has made an effort to increase production and productivity by creating a nationwide movement under the motto “Let Ethiopia Produce”. In order to achieve results by strengthening the efforts, six Executive Ministries have acted in coordination in the completed fiscal year so that all of them can carry out their respective missions.
The Minister of Finance, Ahmed Shide, said that Ethiopia has achieved great success in the development activities amid tests faced both internally and externally. He stated that a wide range of activities have been carried out to increase production and productivity in the economic structural transformation that has started as a country. He recalled that agriculture; mining and manufacturing industries have been given priority attention in the homegrown economic reform agenda to ensure structural transformation by strengthening the manufacturing sector.
According to the Minister’s explanation; as per the ten-year perspective plan of the homegrown economic reform, the composition of exports will increase from 77 percent in 2020 to 36.4 percent in 2030, manufacturing industry will increase from 13.3 to 48.4 percent, and mining sector from 6.9 to 11 percent.
Achieving this requires extensive efforts. Accordingly, the government is reorganizing supporting executive ministerial institutions and implementing various reform works, the minister said. Building a streamlined manufacturing sector and creating a strong economy is a fundamental issue. Thus, plans are being made to ensure the back and forth linkages of the manufacturing industry so that the agricultural and mining industries can produce in a manner that increases the needs of the manufacturing industry.
Ministries of Transport and Logistics, Urban and Infrastructure, which ensure the connection of the sectors, must fulfill the responsibilities of ensuring the provision of transport and road infrastructure so that products can reach the user in good quality and on time and they are doing accordingly, they said.
To ensure the decisiveness of productivity, it will require the joint efforts of all. Fifty products were seen in one place on the event to show the activity that can prove the importance of coordination and solidarity of institutions and to show what level Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector is at, the Minister said.
The Minister of Transport and Logistics, Dagmawit Moges, mentioned that her office has been carrying out its responsibilities in delivering inputs to manufacture and the products to the consumers on time through various transport options. For example, one of the successes in the agricultural sector was the packaging of products in containers so that the quality products could be delivered to the consumers, she mentioned.
In particular, 98 percent of coffee production is packed and transported in containers, and the Ministry has made efforts to coordinate shipping, rail and truck transportation, to ensure timely delivery of fertilizer inputs, and to establish a free trade zone to make the manufacturing industry accessible. She added that the Ministry is ready to do more by expanding its services to grains and other products and creating the ability to deliver products to the consumers with quality and time.
The September 9’s “productivity” program can be said to have laid the foundation for carrying out a coordinated mission that extends to making it accessible to users by increasing production and productivity. The program has created a good opportunity for farmers’ unions engaged in different agricultural sectors; enterprises engaged in urban agriculture; investors working in animal rearing; vegetable and development investment; and organizations engaged in agricultural mechanization and chemical production who offer their products to the foreign market by adding value.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022
