Ethiopia’s horticulture sub-sector is set for significant growth following the launch of the COMESA-EAC Horticulture Accelerator (CEHA) National Chapter. This initiative, unveiled in Addis Ababa on August 13, 2024, is part of a broader strategy to tap into the vast potential of the horticulture industry across the region.
At the launch event, industry stakeholders praised the efforts of the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA-COMESA) and its partners. The CEHA program aims to drive sustainable growth in the horticulture sector across the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC).
H.E. Dr. Meles Mekonnen, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Agriculture and Horticulture Development, highlighted the importance of the CEHA Ethiopia National Chapter in coordinating and accelerating the country’s horticulture development. The initiative will focus on three key crops—potatoes, avocados, and onions—chosen for their potential to drive economic growth and align with development partners’ investment priorities.
“These crops have been selected based on their production capacity, significant potential to drive economic growth, and development partners’ investment priorities,” said Dr. Mekonnen, represented at the event by his Advisor, Prof. Ali Mohamad.
The CEHA Ethiopia National Chapter is expected to unite key stakeholders and provide vital support to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) within the selected value chains through matching grants and technical assistance. This approach is anticipated to create jobs, boost regional trade, and reduce postharvest losses, according to industry experts.
ACTESA-COMESA Chief Executive Officer Dr. John Mukuka underscored the initiative’s potential impact. He revealed that under the 2021-2031 Strategic Plan, ACTESA-COMESA is committed to strengthening the horticulture sub-sector. Dr. Mukuka projected that the combined value of avocados, Irish potatoes, and onions could generate an additional USD 230 million annually for approximately 450,000 smallholder farmers in the region.
In 2023, avocados and onions collectively contributed USD 11.2 million in foreign exchange earnings for the region.
“There is significant headroom for growth and job creation through investments and modernisation in these value chains,” Dr. Mukuka remarked. He also emphasized the pivotal role of women in the horticulture value chain and the need to embrace climate-smart technologies.
The implementation of the CEHA Ethiopia National Chapter will involve a series of targeted activities, including advocacy for policy reforms to enhance trade facilitation and market access, provision of financial resources, training, and capacity-building programs for value chain actors, and sector coordination.
Development partners, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FDCO), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA), participated in the event and pledged their support to ensure the program’s success.
BMGF Senior Programmes Officer Mr. Rafael Flor highlighted the horticulture sub-sector’s potential for job creation, economic development, and foreign exchange earnings. He noted that focusing on these three crops would help the government diversify beyond its traditional emphasis on grains.
FDCO Country Representative Ms. Nina Hissen affirmed the British government’s commitment to fostering partnerships for growth and creating a world free of poverty. She praised CEHA as a prime example of such a partnership.
AGRA Country Director Dr. Yihenew Zewdie called for the harmonization of policies to facilitate cross-border trade within the horticulture sub-sector. He urged stakeholders to ensure the availability of necessary seeds in the right quantities and sustainable manner, expressing confidence that the CEHA initiative would spur innovation.
Established in 2022, CEHA is a collaborative effort to accelerate growth in the fruit and vegetable sub-sector. Ethiopia is the fourth country to launch the CEHA National Chapter, following Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Ethiopia’s horticulture sub-sector is set for significant growth following the launch of the COMESA-EAC Horticulture Accelerator (CEHA) National Chapter. This initiative, unveiled in Addis Ababa on August 13, 2024, is part of a broader strategy to tap into the vast potential of the horticulture industry across the region.
At the launch event, industry stakeholders praised the efforts of the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA-COMESA) and its partners. The CEHA program aims to drive sustainable growth in the horticulture sector across the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC).
H.E. Dr. Meles Mekonnen, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Agriculture and Horticulture Development, highlighted the importance of the CEHA Ethiopia National Chapter in coordinating and accelerating the country’s horticulture development. The initiative will focus on three key crops—potatoes, avocados, and onions—chosen for their potential to drive economic growth and align with development partners’ investment priorities.
“These crops have been selected based on their production capacity, significant potential to drive economic growth, and development partners’ investment priorities,” said Dr. Mekonnen, represented at the event by his Advisor, Prof. Ali Mohamad.
The CEHA Ethiopia National Chapter is expected to unite key stakeholders and provide vital support to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) within the selected value chains through matching grants and technical assistance. This approach is anticipated to create jobs, boost regional trade, and reduce postharvest losses, according to industry experts.
ACTESA-COMESA Chief Executive Officer Dr. John Mukuka underscored the initiative’s potential impact. He revealed that under the 2021-2031 Strategic Plan, ACTESA-COMESA is committed to strengthening the horticulture sub-sector. Dr. Mukuka projected that the combined value of avocados, Irish potatoes, and onions could generate an additional USD 230 million annually for approximately 450,000 smallholder farmers in the region.
In 2023, avocados and onions collectively contributed USD 11.2 million in foreign exchange earnings for the region.
“There is significant headroom for growth and job creation through investments and modernisation in these value chains,” Dr. Mukuka remarked. He also emphasized the pivotal role of women in the horticulture value chain and the need to embrace climate-smart technologies.
The implementation of the CEHA Ethiopia National Chapter will involve a series of targeted activities, including advocacy for policy reforms to enhance trade facilitation and market access, provision of financial resources, training, and capacity-building programs for value chain actors, and sector coordination.
Development partners, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FDCO), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA), participated in the event and pledged their support to ensure the program’s success.
BMGF Senior Programmes Officer Mr. Rafael Flor highlighted the horticulture sub-sector’s potential for job creation, economic development, and foreign exchange earnings. He noted that focusing on these three crops would help the government diversify beyond its traditional emphasis on grains.
FDCO Country Representative Ms. Nina Hissen affirmed the British government’s commitment to fostering partnerships for growth and creating a world free of poverty. She praised CEHA as a prime example of such a partnership.
AGRA Country Director Dr. Yihenew Zewdie called for the harmonization of policies to facilitate cross-border trade within the horticulture sub-sector. He urged stakeholders to ensure the availability of necessary seeds in the right quantities and sustainable manner, expressing confidence that the CEHA initiative would spur innovation.
Established in 2022, CEHA is a collaborative effort to accelerate growth in the fruit and vegetable sub-sector. Ethiopia is the fourth country to launch the CEHA National Chapter, following Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Kenya is among five countries in the region that have the backing of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to cut post-harvest losses in the horticulture sector.
This is under the COMESA- EAC Horticultural Accelerator (CEHA) programme targets to improve production and distribution, access to quality seeds, training, establish standards and traceability, and strengthen post-harvest management while improving gains in the value chain.
While overall post-harvest losses in Kenya’s agriculture sector are estimated at between 20 per cent and 30 per cent, the horticulture sub-sector records losses of up to 60 per cent, according to the regional body.
The five-year programme targeted at Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia is keen to cut the losses in horticulture to 40 per cent, or lower.
COMESA Assistant Secretary General (Programmes) Mohamed Kadah said CEHA has a bottom-up structure where strategic priorities are identified by national-level stakeholders, mainly the horticulture private sector, to drive the priorities at a regional level.
“It facilitates the modernisation of regional horticulture value chains across East Africa, leveraging the comparative advantage, infrastructure, and technology in each country,” Kadah said.
It targets potatoes, avocados and onion farming with Kenya being the first country COMESA has launched the drive, with a goal of achieving a trade value of $25 million (Sh3.3 billion) for fruits and vegetables within the Comesa-EAC region by 2031.
Estimates indicate avocados; onions and Irish potatoes can generate a combined $230 million (Sh29.9 billion) annually for approximately 450,000 smallholder farmers of a minimum farm size of 0.4 hectare with 60 avocado trees, or 1 hectare for onion farmers.
The COMESA initiative aims to propel global exports from $416 million (Sh54.1 billion) to an impressive $ 950 million (Sh123.5 billion) over the next seven years.
“We need to address elements of post-harvest losses through technologies that are there. Be it storage, transport and other stages to ensure that we curb losses and gain more,” said Apollo Owuor, CEHA regional coordinator, Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA).
The region also needs to bring onions and potatoes on board traceability, which is a key component in the market, he added.
“We have a huge opportunity to tap a bigger market locally, regionally and globally but we need to improve production for example potatoes by 20 per cent annually, and onions production,” Owuor said during the launch of the CEHA programme in Nairobi.
According to Kenya’s Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA), the country produces a paltry 26 per cent of the onions consumed in the market, with 74 per cent of imported mainly from Tanzania.
The little that is locally produced is also of low quality according to the authority, amid post-harvest losses, poor management and storage, low quality seeds and onion diseases.
The country on the other hand export 80 per cent of avocado produces to the global market, thanks to improved quality and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, one of the key factors dictating safety considerations and market access for agricultural commodities.
The government is also keen to enhance traceability in Irish potatoes with plans to expand production to 26 counties from the current 13, a move that is expected to help cut imports where 50 per cent of potatoes in the processing sector are imported.
“We are addressing conformity of these commodities, improving quality if seeds and expanding export markets and linkages,” Deputy Director Technical Advisory Services at AFA, Anthony Rutto, said.
The government targets to grow agricultural exports as part of plans to increase foreign exchange earnings and cut the country’s import bill, according to Trade PS Alfred K’Ombudo.
They account for 35 per cent of the country’s total exports led by tea, coffee, avocados, and cut flowers among others.
Ethiopia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding today in the presence of stakeholders to cooperate with the East and Southern African Market Coordinating Agency (COMESA) in avocado, red onion and potato products.
COMESA EAC Horticultural Accelerator (CEHA) Launched
COMESA-EAC Horticulture Accelerator (CEHA) National Chapter of Kenya has been launched. It was hosted by the National Potato Council of Kenya with the event marking the continuation of a journey towards harnessing the vast potential of the horticulture sector within its region.
Prof. John Nderitu, Chairman NPCK Board Of Directors says CEHA-NPCK Kenya National Chapter focuses on three priority anchor value chains (VCs): avocado, onion, and potatoes.
“Horticulture, in particular, emerges as an important sub-sector within agriculture, with huge potential for economic prosperity and empowerment” Implored Nderitu
CEHA has a bottom-up structure where strategic priorities identified by national-level stakeholders, mainly the horticulture private sector drive the priorities at a regional level.
COMESA EAC Horticultural Accelerator (CEHA) Launched
“Horticulture offers a myriad of opportunities for our region. It serves as a catalyst for rural development, empowering smallholder farmers, and elevating livelihoods. The sector presents a gateway to international markets, providing a platform for our Member States to showcase their agricultural prowess on the global stage” Says Dr. John Mukuka ACTESA CEO
John notes that the establishment of the CEHA is a bold step forward in their endeavour to implement the COMESA and EAC Fruits and vegetables action Plans that are collectively geared to improve information flow on potential opportunities for trade of horticultural products within the region and globally. By providing support for market information and standards, they aim to empower our stakeholders with the knowledge and insights needed to seize market opportunities.
Representing Principal State Department for Trade Alfred K’ombudo, Deputy Director for trade and the COMESA focal point person Catherine Kithinji said that Kenya has for a long time depended on maize as a national staple, giving impetus to initiatives that support this value chain.
“CEHA’s deviation from this norm is a welcome move as the Irish potato’s potential to mitigate the food insecure situation in the country as captured in the programme background is astronomical, the nutritional benefits of the avocado to the citizenry as well as the export-driven forex make this a worthwhile pursuit while the inclusion of the onion value chain in this initiative is a timely consideration as there is need to reduce our reliance on imports to meet the domestic demand,” the PS said.
CEHA was created in 2022 by public and private sector partners to better coordinate policy, value chain development programs, financing, and Research and Development (R&D) of the horticulture industry. The aim of CEHA is to speed up growth of the Fruit and Vegetable (F&V) sub-sector of the COMESA and EAC Regions.
The vision of CEHA is that by 2031, climate-smart horticulture value chains will become a significant driver of income growth, inclusive job creation, and improved nutrition throughout Eastern and Southern Africa. CEHA is initially focusing on three priority anchor value chains (VCs), namely avocado, onion and Irish potatoes as these specific value chains have agronomic, logistical, regulatory challenges and opportunities that are common to many other F&V crops. Therefore, Avocado, Onion and Irish potatoes were selected in 2022 through surveys and were based on:
“Establishing strategic horticultural production and processing clusters with agribusiness incubators throughout 5 targeted countries based on unique comparative and competitive advantage. These would serve to “crowd in” and better coordinate infrastructure (irrigation, power, roads) and processing investments and to leverage counter-seasonal export opportunities.” said Dr Mohamed Kadah, Assistant Secretary General Programmes at the COMESA secretariat during the launch of the CEHA Kenya Chapter Friday.
AMB.-DR.-MOHAMED-KADAH-COMESA-ASG.-KIAMBU-HORTICULTURE
CEHA will facilitate the modernization of regional horticulture value chains across East Africa, leveraging the comparative advantage, infrastructure, and technology in each country by: