FreshPlaza talked to Macfrut President Renzo Piraccini about the visits to Ethiopia carried out over the past few weeks as part of the Lab Innova project. The second step of the project is currently taking place in Mozambique.
"These businesses will take part in Macfrut (Rimini, 8th-10th May) and visit various local companies from the fruit and vegetable sector."
Lab Innova is a technical-managerial training project set up by ICE Agenzia for companies located in 7 African countries (Ethiopia, Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda) in collaboration with the Macfrut and Cibus Tech fairs.
Beles Agame is a company processing prickly pears. It is located in Adigrat, in the Tigray province and is supported by a Unido project. It collects prickly pears from local producers and processes them for the domestic market. Only a small part is destined to be exported.
There are plenty of prickly pears in this area. Production starts in early June and ends in late September. The project is rather new and this is the second commercialization campaign.
The facility also features a processing line to brush fruits, remove spines and grade them. The machinery is Greek and can process 2 tons per hour. There is also a small processing system to produce oil from prickly pear seeds. The company will attend Macfrut to establish new contacts and see what is new in the sector.
Raja Horti Farm is a company owned by Amanuel Abraham and it covers 90 hectares in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. It produces various types of vegetables - tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, green beans, salads and strawberries destined mainly to the domestic market. The produce is grown in open fields, but there is also one hectare of greenhouses (currently being extended to cover 5 hectares in total).
Plants are irrigated with a drip micro-irrigation system. Raja Horti Farm also boasts a packing center with a refrigerated unit and holds the GlobalGAP certification.
When operations are in full swing, the company employs around 400 people, mainly women. Most of the produce is destined to the domestic market and only a small part is exported.
The owner will attend Macfrut to find buyers for strawberries in winter and also to assess new technologies. He is particularly interested in purchasing a small processing system to make jams or juices.
Ethamco (Ethiopian American Company) covers 200 hectares and is owned by Kebede Gashaw, founder and CEO, and by other partners. The company is located in the Oromia region and is only partly irrigated with water from the Awash river. The pumping system is Italian, while the irrigation system comes from Israel.
It mainly grows green beans which are then sold to an intermediary exporting them to Belgium between September and June. Then it is the time for watermelons, onions, green peppers and tomatoes. A few papaya hectares are also being planted destined to the domestic market.
When operations are in full swing, the company employs around 300 people (75 during the low season) who cost 42 birr a day ($1.5). There is no packing station, but the company intends to build one over the next few months. The owner will attend Macfrut to find buyers but, mainly, to see the new technologies available.