Ethiopia’s horticulture sector showed improvement in the 2021/2022 fiscal year after being severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Exports from the sector reached USD 628 million during the fiscal year surpassing expectations. The flower sector alone obtained USD 541 million making Ethiopia the second largest exporter of flowers in Africa.

According to Tewodros Zewdie, President of the Ethiopian Horticulture Exporters Association, the sector showed improvement due to efforts made to strengthen the logistics capacity of investors and enhance the coordination of operations. He stated that the collaboration between the Government and his association also contributed to the sector’s achievement.

The sector’s major bottlenecks include shortage of investment land, energy, and finance. Investors are also unable to invest in the sector due to low supply of resources required for production. On the other hand, companies that are already engaged in the sector are not producing at full capacity because of frequent power outages. However, according to Abdela Negash, Head of Horticulture Development Sector of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Government is undertaking reforms in the field and is moving with special attention. He stated that it was necessary to use this opportunity as there was an organization to solve the problems that had a negative impact on the efficiency of the sector.

Ethiopia plans to obtain more than USD 770 million from the horticulture sector in the 2022/2023 fiscal year.

Source: The Ethiopian Herald