2merkato

Mama Fresh Injera plc, Ethiopia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding and contract with the Erer Farmers Cooperative Union, the Oromia Regional Agriculture Bureau, the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency and the Oromia Regional Cooperative Promotion Agency.

The agreement will establish a partnership to launch and implement contract farming projects in Ad’a that will allow Mama Fresh Injera to source 730 MT of teff for the 2012 planting season. The agreement is planned to extend the collaboration for several years on the basis of the success of the effort and the lessons learned said the joint statement released by the stakeholders.

Ethiopian exports have dropped by 7% in the first quarter of the fiscal year according to the Ministry Trade. The total revenue earned from exports in the first quarter of the financial year was just 699.1 million US dollars.

The revenue from exports decreased due to lower demand for coffee and oil seeds on the international market according to the ministry.

Coffee exports to the international market raised a revenue of 199.3 million US dollars in the first quarter which ended in Oct. 10. The revenue earned from coffee was lower than the 201.9 million US dollars  earned by the nation over the same period a year earlier said the MoT. 

Exports from Ethiopia to the United States are still much lower then would be expected in light of the African Growth and Opportunity Act enacted by the US in the year 2000 to help sub-Saharan Africa export more to the US.

Although Ethiopian exports to the United States have grown steadily to reach an estimated 144.5 million US dollars the growth is much less than that seen in other African countries.

Ethiopia hopes to emulate the experiences of countries such as Mauritius and Lesotho to enhance its textiles trade to earn up to a billion US dollars in textile exports in the coming years.

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation is requiring all factories in Ethiopia to install devices that guarantee efficient use of power.

The efficiency devices are expected to adjust the difference between real power and apparent power in the use of electricity to a ratio of one.

The Metal and Engineering Corporation will produce the devices known as power factor correctors. The efficiency devices will be made available to all factories eventually on a one year interest free credit arrangement according to Miskir Negash Head of Public relations EEPCo.

Ethiopian farmers in the regions of Amhara and Oromia are preparing to export avocados to the international market. 447 farmers in the Amhara region, as well as several others in the Oromia region, are prepared to export high-quality avocadoes, it has been learned.