Category: Our News

As part of EHPEA’s key intervention areas on advocacy for the development of Ethiopian horticulture investment business climate, farm visit and a discussion platform program held at Bishoftu cluster on Saturday November 27, 2021.

On visit program a higher official delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture State Minister Dr. Sofia Kassa, W/ro Genet Abdela Advisor to Ministry of Agriculture Minister Ato Oumer Husen, and Ato Mekonnen Solomon who is Director of horticulture have joined the visit to 5 EHPEA member farms namely; Friendship Flower PLC, Beti Ornamental Plc., Rainbow Colors Plc., Yassin Legesse Flower Farm and Roshanara Rose Plc.

The delegation discussed at length on the cluster challenges about the delayed inking of the land lease agreements, suspension of investment expansion request, intermittent outage of power and delay in issuance of import permit.

The Oromia Investment and Industry Bureau Head, Dr. Teshome and his team set a direction on the way forward to the Regional Government cabinet to pass decision on the lease amount to expedite the signing of the lease agreement for the 6 farms in Bishoftu, to address expansion requests in the framework of the law & to adjust the lease period to 30 years for those farms with in the rural administration.

EHPEA TVET Center has delivered a Farm Safety officer training for EHPEA member farms located in Debrezeit, Koka, and Ziway Clusters, from 23 – 26 Nov 2021 at its headquarter in Addis Ababa. The training has aimed to empower participants with advanced knowledge and practical skills in workplace worker safety, welfare, hazard identification, risk assessment, OSH policy, OSH procedure, and accident prevention techniques and mitigating actions. The training had 3 days class session and a one-day farm visit to Herburg Rose for experience sharing purposes.

EHPEA delivered a training on “Sexual Gender Based Violence & Reproductive Health Right” for its member farm management staffs with an objective to equip them with the knowledge of the contribution factor of Gender Sensitive Management in the case of Horticulture sector.

The training held at EHPEA office on November 18-19,2021.

EHPEA TVET Center delivered training for farm environment officers on “Environment Management and Risk Assessment” from November 9-12/2021. The training aimed at reducing environmental footprint and enhancing sustainable production. Participants also shared their experience and knowledge on how to accelerate the process of achieving safe and reliable production via the visit to Florensis Ethiopia Plc.

EHPEA in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture organized a discussion platform on the Ethiopian Horticulture investment challenges with the presence of major sectoral players from government office and private sector.

On the meeting, proposed solutions to overcome the existing bottleneck of the Horticulture investment presented by the Association and discussed the way forward at length.It was also stated that a MoU will be signed with the respective government offices for the alignment of strategic work.

The importance of having such platform on a monthly base for the betterment of the industry investment also recommended by the participants.

Zuqualla Horti PLC Exports its First Cutting Flower to European market

Being a pioneer growing and exporting strawberry since 2005 in Oromia region Koka, the company welcomed its new investor Emsflower end of 2020 which makes it the 6th ornamental cutting producer- and exporter in the country.

Following a 10 months new sector investment phase, Zuqualla Horti PLC successfully exported its first cuttings to the European market on October 27, 2021.
Zuqualla Horti PLC’s ultramodern greenhouse facility built on 5,5ha surface, holds a complete automized climate system, fully equipped with moveable screens and LED grow lights, as well as a gutter recycling system for all drain water.
“Depending on the quality and feedback from our customers and how successful we can get through our first export season, plans are there to expand the greenhouse facility with another 2,2ha and currently created a job opportunity for 550 citizens ” Wout van Koppen, the company’s General Manager, states.

Government officials and commercial farm professionals are attending a Tailor-Made training in Adama on “Growing Avocado for Export: Through Good Agricultural Practices for Organic Cultivation.” The training is part of a collaboration between EHPEA and Nuffic, with an objective to build the skill and knowledge of actors in the Ethiopian fruit and vegetable value chain.

Farm Safety Officer training for EHPEA member farms began on October 12, 2021 by EHPEA TVET Center at its head quarter Addis Ababa. The training aims to empower participants with advanced knowledge and practical skills in workplace worker safety welfare, hazard identification, risk assessment, training methodology, OSH policy, OSH procedure, and accident prevention techniques. The training will continue for the next four days, with a practical farm visit on the final day.

EHPEA introduced its services to other industries and stakeholders, today at capital hotel emphasizing on one of its key intervention ‘Waste Management’. The association successfully implemented ‘Used Water Treatment Plant Technology’ into 31 member farms to properly manage their liquid wastes and reuse treated water for irrigation purpose as well as benefiting surrounding smallholders. Experience sharing field visit to farms located in Koka and Bishoftu is also organized afterwards of the conference to have a real time exposure for the participants.