Addis Ababa: The government of Ethiopia has paid due attention to the dairy sub-sector as the prime focus to improve the livelihoods and enhance production, according to Ministry of Agriculture.
A stakeholders consultative workshop organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Ministry of Agriculture and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) held today discussion on Ethiopia’s dairy value chain improvement options.
The consultative workshop aims to make constructive consultations and generate practical and sustainable ideas to transform the country’s dairy sub-sector in line with the country’s initiatives.
Speaking at the workshop, State Minister of Agriculture, Fikru Regassa recalled that the Government launched a participatory, inclusive, and holistic livestock development programe dubbed ‘Ye Lemat Tirufat’ (Bounty of the Basket) in November 2022.
The programme aims to enhance public health and nutrition by improving the local production of poultry and dairy farming, apiculture,
and the rearing of small ruminants.
So far, the programme has created interest and motivation for farmers and pastoralist communities across the country, he added.
For instance, he mentioned under the programme the government is determined to quadruple milk production from the current 7.1 billion litres to 28.4 billion litres by 2031.
Thus, he underlined the dairy sub-sector is given prime focus by this national programme.
To realize this, ‘We need a strong partnership between the private and public institutions and besides, we need the efforts of local, regional, and international development partners, NGOs, financial, academic and research organizations.’
Moreover, Fikru added that it’s important to discuss on the bottlenecks that hinder the development of the dairy value chain from different angles.
FAO Representative in Ethiopia, Farayi Zimudzi said FAO has been an active development partner to the government of Ethiopia, in implementing a wide range of programs in projects to improve agriculture, f
ood security, and nutrition of the population in the country.
She elaborated that livestock and particularly dairy, is one of the fastest growing sectors in Ethiopia, and is also a major component of FAO’s programme in the country.
She reiterated that unwavering commitment of FAO to contributing to the country’s efforts to transform its livestock industry, particularly the dairy sub-sector.
‘Our engagements will contribute to the understanding of current efforts and identify options to build on existing dairy development initiatives by government and development partners to meet the country’s demand for quality and safe milk and its products,’ according to Zimudze.
KOICA Country Director, Cho Han Deog said on his part said Ethiopia is a country with high potential for dairy farming and dairy industry.
Hence, Korea has been supporting artificial insemination of cattle to produce superior breeds, provision of dairy cows to promote dairy farming and improve farmers’ incomes, training to improve milk product
ivity, he elaborated.
‘It would be great if we could identify some of the critical bottlenecks in putting ‘made-in-Ethiopia’ dairy products on the fresh food sections of stores and come up with the ideas of engaging in realizing the dairy development potential of Ethiopia based on the division of labor.’
This is because there are so many people out there who depend on dairy value chain for their livelihood and Ethiopia’s endeavor and path to develop manufacturing capacity, the dairy industry would be a good starting point.
He underlined collectively, it important to work together to advance dairy industry and produce meaningful achievements in Ethiopia.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency