an exporter of food after what they went thru a few years ago.

Ethiopia Eyes to Earn U.S. $371 Million From Horticulture Exports

17 NOVEMBER 2014

The Senior Communication Expert with the Ethiopian Horticulture Development Agency, Mekonnen Hailu, said on Sunday (November 16) that Ethiopia was intending to expand the revenue from the export of horticulture products to US $371 million for this 2014-15 fiscal year. Horticulture exports made US$245 million last year.

He said that efforts were underway "to export high-quality products during the reporting period as part of the overall activities to increase the nation's revenue." He added that "utilization of modern technology, in particular chemical-free pest control mechanism, is being applied to make the products free of chemicals because chemical-free products have great market demand."

He said the Government was considering the importance of bolstering the import of horticulture varieties with a view to improve the quality and quantity of products, noting that "The country has already earned US$56 million from export of over 130 million cut flowers and more than 41,000 tons of vegetables, fruits and herbs during the first quarter of the current budget year."

"Around US$44 million of this is secured from cut flower export while the balance was earned from vegetables, fruits and herbs. Ato Mekonnen noted that eighty percent of the country's horticultural products were exported, mainly to European countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Norway and France. Japan, U.S., Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates are other key importers of the nation's products.

Over 120 foreign and domestic companies are currently engaged in horticulture development efforts in Ethiopia. This comes as a result of the Government's incentives, including duty-free importation of green house energy machinery, the provision of up to seven years tax holiday, and support and priority given to infrastructure development for investment sites, in order to attract FDI and trade inflows in the sector