Addis is to host premier furniture; interior and finishing material expo to be held from may 2-4 2019, at the Millennium hall. The event is organized by Prana events and Shak-crux trade & events managements.
The expo believed to be instrumental to the sector’s development as it creates a room for policy makers, key industry leaders, and decision makers to gather under one roof to open horizons of business opportunities in the vast domestic market.
Addis is to host premier furniture
Government to purchase fertilizer for next harvest year
The Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Oumer Hussien told lawmakers that the ministry will purchase fertilizer for next year’s harvest to ensure farmers get it on time.
Although this is uncommon, it is being done because the supply chain is ineffective. Farmers’ productivity has been going down because fertilizer and other agricultural inputs are not being distributed on time. In some places even after the “Belg” seasons begins farmers don’t have what they need to plant.
According to the World Bank, over 70 percent of the households reported that fertilizer is often supplied late and around 40 percent of the households reported that supplies were inadequate. High prices and tight credit repayment schedules constrain fertilizer use.
Transportation cost is another major contributor to the high cost of fertilizers, there is seasonal variation of demand and there is lack of information and communication among stakeholders in the fertilizer supply chain.
State Minister, Sani Redi argues that low productivity increases fertilizer prices and that other factors remain constant.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, over half a billion USD has been used to buy 1.27 million tons of fertilizer. Currently, 49 percent has entered the country and the rest is expected to arrive by the end of May.
The country’s fertilizer supply has been increasing and Ethiopia has been importing more agricultural inputs. In 2017 the country spent 16 billion birr to purchase 936,430 tons of fertilizer of which 70 percent was bought from OCP, a Moroccan company.
The country had been using only dap and urea fertilizers which solely gives nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients. However, the Ministry is working to apply the fertilizers that almost incorporated the nutrients recommended by researchers including potash, sulfur, boron and zinc among others in accordance with the type of soil.
In Ethiopia over 95 percent of fertilizers are distributed by cooperative unions.
Six years ago the country attempted to manufacture 300,000 tons of Urea, 250,000 tons of DAP fertilizers, 20,000 tons of other fertilizers in Yayu Wereda, Illubabor zone of Oromia Regional State, the project failed.
Another joint venture agreement with OCP in Dire Dawa will began soon, according to the ministry.
“The Ministry is simultaneously working to save foreign currency along with delivering on time at a low cost,” said Oumar Hussein.
Fires devastate national parks
It has only taken a few months for wildfires to burn over two hundred thousand sqm of Ethiopia’s national parks.
Climate change has caused longer dry seasons leading to increased fire danger but The Ethiopian Wild Animals Conservation Authority (EWCA) says all of these fires have been caused by human error.
During a briefing the Authority said all fires have been caused by human actions.
Over 15000sqm in Kafta Shiraro National Park burned from October through November because residents who lived near the park illegally entered it, while attempting to traditionally extract honey. Located in Tigray, Kafta Shiraro, has taken the biggest hit as 70 percent of its wild animals have migrated to neighboring Eritrea.
Arsi Bale National Park, established in 1970 under the Dergue regime was burned several times in Dinsho, Goba and Adaba Weredas. In the last eight months alone, the park has burned three times.
The fires have been caused by people trying to cultivate new farm land as the population grows and burning the plant known as “Asta” traditionally used for cattle grazing and charcoal.
Fires also devastated Maghoo, Gambela, Halidega – Asebot, National Parks in January and the Authority is looking into how much it damaged the flora and fauna that exist in the parks.
The most recent wild fires have occurred in Simien National Park, which is on the World Heritage List. The fire lasted for seven consecutive days in March and burned over 320 acres of land. It is not yet endangered, Kumera Wakigira Director of EWCA said.
Fire prevention and safety management needs more money so the Authority plans to organize stakeholders. This effort, and the 10-year management plan currently being implemented by the Ethiopian Wildlife & Conservation Authority should help alleviate the problem, according to Kumera Wakijira, Director of EWCA.
The 13 National Parks under the Ethiopian Wildlife & Conservation Authority generated 123 million Br in revenue last fiscal year
“The revenue shows how little attention is paid by the government to national parks and wild animals,” Kumera said.
Stinky Abattoir causes bad health residents say
A group of people living near the Addis Ababa Abattoirs Enterprise commonly known as Kera, have brought a complaint letter to the Addis Ababa Environmental Protection Authority saying that the foul smell coming from the abattoir is creating health problems.
They say over 150 residents are being affected by the bad odor coming from the cooking kitchen and the byproducts of waste from the abattoirs.
A resident around the area told Capital “there is a disgusting smell on a regular basis. It starts at 4 PM and continues for four hours. The stench causes breathing difficulty and we can’t relax or sleep well. We have written a letter to the Enterprise but they have not given us a satisfactory response.”
Residents say the stench has been an issue for years and they are unhappy that this has been continuing. They want public officials to do more to eliminate the odor.
“If they could live here and see what it’s like in the evenings, the decision makers that could do something about it, would do something about it,” the resident adds.
Nebret Beka, Managing Director of the enterprise told Capital that the bad smell is happening because dump trucks in the city are unwilling to load the waste from the abattoirs.
“It can take at least two or three days until the truck comes to us to load the waste, we told them to load it every day but they are get paid by cubic meters in other places, we are asking the city administration for our own dump truck.”
“We are committed to being a good neighbor and we take our community responsibility seriously. We appreciate the concerns that have been expressed and continue to evaluate and address the situation, including the source of the odor and ways in which we can help further address it. We have already taken significant strides in that direction, including preparing ourselves for a better waste management system. We are in touch with experts and soon they will come here to conduct a study’’ the Managing Director adds.
In related news, the new abattoir located at Hana Mariam is being challenged by delays in the relocation of the residents of the area.
“There are around 55 legal homes here so the city administration is working to give them better compensation but the process is taking a long time. Over 350 houses are constructed illegally. The project site is owned by us but all of these issues are creating a headache for us. We are in the process of hiring a consultant for the new abattoirs. We plan to begin the construction in July,” Nebret said.
In September 2017, Ethiopia and France signed a 70.5 million euro loan and grant agreement to support the relocation and expansion of the Addis Ababa Abattoirs Enterprise.
The new encompass lied on 17,400 square meters and it is going to have the capacity to handle 14,000 animals per day. Compared to this, the old slaughter house has the capacity of only slaughtering 1,200 animals per day.
The old abattoir has seen some improvements in the past years. Nonetheless, expansion and improvement projects faced difficulties due to space limitation. With the new slaughter house, the Enterprise expects to render different new services such as export slaughtering service and environmental mitigation actions.
The export service is expected to be given through an automatic line which can handle bulls, sheep and goats.
An upgrading system for processing by products to produce animal tallow, meat bone meal, glue and pure bone meal will also be installed in the new abattoir. In addition to these the new abattoir will feature a biogas plant and water treatment plant to enable the treatment of water and reuse of water.
