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The castor seed development project initiated by Agropeace plc has launched a full scale plantation on six hectares of land according to sources. The agro investment company established by six Israeli investors aims to produce export quality seeds in three month cycles.

Agropeace has been conducting a pilot for the project in Somali Region within local communities for the past four years. The pilot project involved testing a variety of castor seed types with 46 people representing 22 households in the community taking part in the project said Anteneh Gelaye, Chief Operation Manger for the Pilot Project.

The 8th African Development Forum is to be held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The ADF-VIII conference will be held from the 23rd to the 25th of October under the theme of ‘Governing and Harnessing Natural Resources for Africa's Development.’

The forum is a biennial event established in 1999 to serve as a platform for multi-stakeholder discussion, debate, and for initiating strategies towards the development of Africa.

The forum is a cooperative effort of the African Development Bank, the African Union Commission and other partners in an effort to establish an African-driven development agenda reflecting consensus and leading to specific programs.

The Southern Regional State of Ethiopia (SNNP) has launched concerted efforts to develop the apiculture sector. The region has set target production for the budget year at 21 thousand tons of honey and 6 tons of wax.

The environment in the Southern region is favorable to apiculture due to the abundance of tree, flower and water resources as well as the climate note Ergete Weldesemayat, Expert of Animal Husbandry.

The regional state is supplying modern beehives manufactured in rural technological centers and by scale manufacturing enterprises to help attain the desired levels of production explained Ergete.

The Ethiopian economy is expected to sustain an 11% growth in the current fiscal year according to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn speaking to the Parliament yesterday.

The economy has grown at an average rate of 11% in the last few years and the government expects to maintain the growth rate in the current financial year said Hailemariam.

It is to be remembered that the International Monetary Fund revised its forecast of the growth rate of the Ethiopian economy from 5.5% to 7% last June. The IMF raised its growth forecast due to the slowing rates of inflation.