ADDIS ABABA – Ministry of Agriculture announced that it has planned to increase the private sector investment in agricultural production.
Approached by The Ethiopian Herald, Ministry Agricultural Investment Support Director Alemayehu Gebresselasie said that efforts are underway to increase private investment and productivity through working with investors and intended bodies to provide croplands, inputs and capacity building support.
According to him, additional land has been prepared to the private investors. For example, this year the ministry in collaboration with regional administrations has prepared 128,000 and 20,000 hectares of land in Somali and Afar States respectively. Similarly, the Ministry is also set duty free incentives to import agricultural machineries [combines and tractors] for those who cultivate annual crops and cash crops at 300 and 200 hectares of land respectively, he said.
As to him, the Ministry would maintain facilitating trainings that it has been offering to the agricultural experts. However, financial loans might reduce due to the delay of the investors engaged in the area to repay their debts, he noted.
“We expect the private owners to produce more to feed the agro processing industries that is why most of them get land around the parks. In addition, they ought to improve export especially, coffee, sesame among others.”
Today, 5,600 private owners received more than two million hectares of land mainly in Beninshangul Gumuz, Gambella and Southern Nation Nationalities and Peoples States lowland areas to produce sesame and other varieties of crop products, Alemayehu stated.
However, it is only 40 percent of the land is cultivated each year. For instance, last year, it was only 812,000 hectares cultivated by the investors, as to him. Accordingly, the investors are producing about 15 to 16 million quintals [estimated] from 800,000 hectares of land. However the number of private investors has not increased over the past two or three years due to various problems mainly related to infrastructure, finance and national instability among others, as to him.
Since 2009, private investors have been widely engaged in agriculture to increase exportable agricultural product, to feed agro industries and improve job opportunity, it was learnt. Recently, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated that the government has set a strong ambition to advance the agricultural sector including the wide participation of private owners next budget year.
The Ethiopian Herald, August 6/2019
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
