National Conference on Banana deliberates on ways of unleashing Ethiopia’s banana potential through enhanced product quality and addressing key issues within the industry, thereby boosting export revenues and enhancing decent employment opportunities among other socio-economic gains.
Organized by the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) under the theme – ‘From Bunches to Breakthrough”, the National Conference on Banana is going on at Hilton Hotel in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
The one-day Conference brings more than 200 participants together from across the agricultural, particularly the banana value chain, including agricultural experts, horticulturalists, producers, exporters, cooperatives, financial institutions, research and academic institutions, development partners, and other actors.
Featuring presentations and panel discussions with top-notch speakers and industry specialists, the Conference dwells upon the current status of Ethiopia’s banana industry, reviews global banana market trends, charts out ways to address supply chain hurdles and post-harvest handling as well as to expand export opportunities for the country’s high-value banana products.
Officially opening the Conference, H.E. Dr. Sofia Kassa, State Minister of Agricultural Investment and Input Supply Development Sector at the Ministry of Agriculture, underlined on the need to drive collective and committed efforts to achieve breakthrough in the banana industry through strengthened quality compliance to international standards and expanding the access to finance, among other strategic interventions.
“Breakthrough will not happen by production efforts alone. It requires us to address, with combined efforts and commitment, the real challenges that stand between our farms and the global marketplace,” said the State Minister.
To effectively drive the growth of Ethiopia’s horticulture and strengthening its value chain in the country, the Government has been taking favorable measures through sectoral policy frameworks and supportive initiatives, including the 10-Year National Horticulture Strategy launched by the Ministry exactly this time last year, noted the State Minister.
H.E. Dr. Sofia reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to working hand in hand with EHPEA, producers and exporters, development partners, and the financial and research communities, to translate the outcomes of the Conference into real policy action and committed investment on the ground.
The one-day Conference has brought more than 200 participants together from across the agricultural, particularly the banana value chain to primarily deliberate on ways of unleashing the country’s potential and positioning Ethiopia as global banana export powerhouse.
In his welcoming remarks, the EHPEA Executive Director Tewodros Zewdie noted that the Conference has been organized with focus on identifying local and global opportunities, laying strategies for improving production, research impact and further commercialization of the banana crop.
EHPEA spearheads strategic initiatives and interventions to support the successful implementation of such relevant polices and promote the subsector, ensuring robust and sustainable horticulture in Ethiopia that generates increased hard currencies and creates decent jobs for citizens.
Tewodros said the Association has been undertaking series of consultative platforms and capacity building interventions with the Ministry of Agriculture and its partners, reinforcing the efforts geared towards releasing the potential in the horticulture industry.
Presentations were made on pertinent topics including among others, banana production and research in Ethiopia, global banana industry, smart cold chain logistics, and the role of private sector in banana industry.
The Conference is accompanied by mini-exhibition displaying products and businesses along the banana value chain.
