A forum on “Sustainable Business Growth and Improved Resilience in a Supportive Food Processing Ecosystem” forum was held in Addis Ababa.: forum on “Sustainable Business Growth and Improved Resilience in a Supportive Food Processing Ecosystem” forum was held in Addis Ababa.
Ministry of Industry representative Dugassa Dunfa said on the occasion that supporting the food processing industries in technological, business, and market systems so that they can manufacture and distribute safe and nutritious food is pivotal in tackling the country’s food security crisis.
Currently, there are over 1,600 food processors, including medium and large industries, which play a vital role in safe food production, distribution, job creation, and import substitution.
Despite the challenges the food processing sector faces, the government has implemented a number of intervention measures to create a more resilient food processing ecosystem, Dugassa stated.
According to him, the ministry is devoted to fostering and nurturing t
he growth of the food processing industry in Ethiopia and acknowledge contribution of partners to build a more competitive food-processing sector that contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Deputy Chief of Party Alliance for Inclusive Nutritious Food Processing (AINFP), Angela Mulaisho told ENA that the Alliance has recorded amazing results and supported over 52 food processing companies in Ethiopia over the last six years.
The Alliance for Inclusive and Nutritious Food Processing (AINFP) through its technical support to 52 food processing companies in Ethiopia, has contributed to increase in the value of sales of their products amounting to over 20 million USD.
AINFP has also provided capacity building and tailored customized technical assistance for the industries to help them grow their businesses and enable them to be competitive, it was learned.
Through this, they are able to produce safe nutritious food products that are available and accessible to the base of the pyramid market, while pr
ioritizing procurement of quality raw materials from small holder farmers, Mulaisho elaborated.
“One of our key success areas is that we have been able to link these food processing companies to over 16,000 small holder farmers that have established linkages and have been able to contribute as well as procure raw materials having invested in this particular area,’ she said.
The Alliance for Inclusive and Nutritious Food Processing (AINFP) program is a partnership between USAID, TechnoServe, and Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) that aims to create a more competitive food processing sector to improve availability of nutritious and affordable food products.
Addis Ababa:
Source: Ethiopian News Agency