Ministry of Agriculture announced that Feed the Future Ethiopia Transforming Agriculture Activity has developed a ground-breaking Enset processing machine in partnership with Arba Minch University and local private companies.

During the launching program, Agriculture State Minister Meles Mekonen said this ground-breaking innovation of Enset processing machine has been developed by the Feed the Future Ethiopia Transforming Agriculture Activity, Arba Minch University, and private companies.

According to him, this will effectively address one of the strategic issues identified during the preparation of the National Enset Development Flagship Program.

In 2021, the Government of Ethiopia launched the “Sodo Declaration” that focuses on the Enset value chain in 2021.

A National Enset Development Flagship Program (NEDFaP) wasthen developed to streamline strategic interventions to be implemented from 2023 to 2030, it was learned.

The general objective of the flagship program is to transform Enset research, prod
uction, processing and marketing into a robust, competitive, commercially oriented, and sustainably productiveindustry.

The state minister noted that Enset is not just a crop. It’s a cornerstone of food security in Ethiopia, especially in Sidama, Central, South West and Southern region of Ethiopia.

Enset’sremarkable resilience to drought and climate change makes it even more crucial in these times of environmental challenges.

The traditional way of Enset production, processing and consumption has long been hampered by labor-intensive methods, placing an unfair burden on women and girls who are primarily responsible for this difficult task.

Ethiopia Transforming Agriculture is a five-year, 67 million USD activity that seeks to influence and inspire the country’s agriculture and food system actors to sustainably improve the diets of 7 million people, particularly women and children living in 132 target woredas across the country.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency