USAID, in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry of Ethiopia, launched the African Alliance for Food Processing Project in Ethiopia on Thursday, April 18, 2013.

The project is designed to increase the quality and competitiveness of Ethiopia’s food processing sector and to expand the availability of affordable and nutritious foods.

Food processing is among the oldest manufacturing industries in Ethiopia. Bakeries, grain and oil mills have been operating as early as 1906.

The project will offer technical assistance to 20 medium and large scale millers and wheat processing plants“to implement quality management systems, meet national standards and certification requirements, develop processes and products tailored to market demand, strengthen financial systems and improve business efficiencies,” according to a USAID press release.

“The project complements the policies of the Ethiopian government, especially the wheat value chain highlighted in the government’s Agricultural Growth Program and the promotion of safe fortified foods emphasized by the National Nutrition program,” said Jason Fraser, deputy mission director of USAID Ethiopia.

The African Alliance for Improved Food project is supported the United States government’s USD 250 million "Feed the Future Initiative".

The project is already being implemented in Kenya,Zambia,Tanzania, and Malawi. Ethiopia is the fifth country in Africa to be included in the Alliance.

Source: Fortune