Sugar cane plantations are under development in Ethiopia on 6000 hectares of land in Southern Omo. The plantations are intended to serve the six Omo Kuraz Sugar factories.

The plantations are part of plans to cover 15 hectares ever year for the coming five years said Tilahun Deneke, Head of the Omo Kuraz Sugar Development Project Office.

Ethiopia has allocated 225 million US dollars for the development of each factory to be constructed by the Metal and Engineering Corp. The assessment and design of the Omo Kuraz Sugar projects is currently underway under the supervision of the Southern Ethiopia Design and Supervision Enterprise and the Ethiopian Waterworks Design and Supervision Enterprise.

The construction of a residential complex for personnel, road construction and an irrigation reservoir are also underway as part of the project.

A joint committee made up various stakeholders at different levels has been set to make sure that the projects are inclusive to address potential challenges noted Tilahun.

It is expected that the projects will offer significant employment opportunities for the local community as well as offering a chance for animal husbandry initiatives for the largely pastoralist community with the sugar by products serving as feed and an opportunity for irrigation agriculture as well he said.

Source: Walta Info