Ethiopian forum highlights agribusiness opportunities

The Ethiopian Diaspora Business Forum held in Washington, DC, on 27 July, brought together some 300 Ethiopians now living in the United States. The meeting was centered on investment opportunities available back home, for the more than half a million Ethiopians living in the US.

Ethiopia has an agrarian economy, with (agriculture accounting for 41% of GDP in 2011/12).  So, this year’s forum strategically focused on investing in agribusiness.

ACDI/VOCA’s Paul Guenette spoke on the organisation’s projects including the Agricultural Growth Program-Agribusiness and Market Development (AGP-AMDe), which is part of Feed the Future, the U.S. global hunger and food security initiative. ACDI/VOCA implements the project on behalf of USAID. The project uses a value chain approach to strengthen the agriculture sector whilst enhancing access to finance and stimulating innovation and private sector investment.

The targeted value chains, which include chickpeas, coffee, honey and sesame, were identified for their potential to improve food security and incomes. More than a million smallholder producers are expected to benefit over the programme’s five years. Gross margins for these farmers should double, and losses will be dramatically cut.

The keynote speakers were Daniel Gad, CEO of Omega Farms, an Ethiopia horticulture operation, and Professor Liesl Riddle, Dean of the International Business School at George Washington University. The forum was also attended by Ron Kopicki of the USAID Agribusiness Innovation and Incubation Center; Prof. Greg Ziegler of Penn State University/NutriAfrica; Yohannes Tilahun of the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency; Bruk Haile of Comex Services.

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