ADDIS ABABA -The Ministry of Agriculture said that it has been working on increasing oilseeds production to enable the nation cut importing edible oil through supplying local factories with required inputs.

Agriculture State Minister Melese Mekonnen (PhD) told The Ethiopian Herald that Ethiopia has been focusing on increasing oilseed production to substitute edible oil locally.

The sector is one of the government's priority areas in the ten years' flagship programs in the agriculture sector, he indicated.

The objective is to produce inputs for local oil factories thereby cutting edible oil imports, Melese expressed.

According to the State Minister, factories that produce cooking oil have been expanded in the country. Therefore, he said, the government has been working focusing on producing grass pea, sunflower and groundnut to supply these factories with necessary inputs.

Currently, the country is producing grass pea widely though farmers are facing challenges related to market linkage, he mentioned.

He also pledged that his ministry would work together with concerned bodies like the ministries of Trade, Industry and others to address market challenges.

He further said that the government identified ten areas that would be given a special focus in the ten year national flagship program in the agriculture sector.

The country has managed to cover some one million hectares of land with rice this Ethiopian fiscal year which shows that areas that were not harvesting rice are now cultivating the crop, according to Melese.

Like the wheat initiative, this year Oromia state took great initiatives next to Amhara in rice production as part of the national effort to substituting import, he mentioned.

On the other hand, the country has been exporting avocado and supplying the product to local processors that export it by adding value, he stated.

BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2023