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Ethiopia has exported $ 400 million worth of horticulture during the first nine months of Ethiopia’s current budget year, which began on July 8, 2019.
This is indicated by the Director of horticultural support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mekonnen Solomon, who spoke on the day of the state, the Ethiopian herald. Currently, about 60 percent of flower growers in Ethiopia are engaged in export, which was initially affected by the global pandemic, according to Mr. Mekonnen.
The previous budget year, which ended on July 7, 2019, Ethiopia earned $ 318 million in horticulture exports, of which $ 60 million was generated from flowers, according to official government reports.
Recently, the CEO of the Ethiopian Airlines Group, Tewolde GebreMariam, stated that the export of flowers from Ethiopia is growing amid COVID-19.
In presenting Ethiopian Airlines’ activity report to the national response committee COVID-19 chaired by Prime Minister Abiy, Mr. Tewolde indicated that the fact that Kenya, the leading flower exporter in Africa, was unable to export its flowers because many airlines, which used to transport The flower has suspended its operations.
Following the decline in passenger flights following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ethiopian Airlines focused on cargo services and recently announced the conversion of its various passenger aircraft to cargo aircraft.
In addition to the flower, the export of meat from Ethiopia to the countries of the Middle East also shows an improvement after the holy month of Ramadan, according to Mr. Tewolde. The Ethiopian Ministry of Commerce and Industry is expected to officially release Ethiopia’s nine-month export report in the coming days.
The horticulture industry currently occupies 10,897.21 hectares of land creating jobs for 199,640 Ethiopians, according to information from the Ethiopian Horticultural Producers and Exporters Association.
“The sector is the fourth largest contributor of export earnings for the country at US $ 307.04 million in 2017/18. Floriculture contributes a large part of the participation in around 79%, while expanding vegetables, fruits and herbs have a 21% participation in the income ”, stated the Association.
