Enabling Environment for Digital Agriculture and Innovation in Ethiopia

30 March 2023. Enabling Environment for Digital Agriculture and Innovation in Ethiopia

This webinar is part of the Innovate Ethiopian Agriculture Webinar Series.

Ethiopia’s innovation ecosystem and digital capability needs to be increased to address the challenges it faces. FAO -Ethiopia in collaboration with partners are aspiring to play an enabling role in bringing together and supporting the regular dialogue between all stakeholders in agriculture by collaboratively working on a webinar series named “Innovate Ethiopian Agriculture” (IEA Webinar).

Ethiopia is a country of incredible diversity and promise. Innovation and Digitalization offers the ability to address various issues in important economic and social aspects of life as it fundamentally creates access to information and data and engenders the opportunity for unprecedented growth. The country has an advantage as a developing country to learn from the experiences of countries at the forefront of digitalization, while designing policies that meet needs and fit to own local contexts.

• How do we mobilize and create spaces to digitalize important aspects of our lives?
• How will we work together to craft solutions that enable us to progress?
• How can businesses both support and benefit from this process of digitalization?
• How can a country commit to and sustain a holistic digital transformation strategy?
• How can partners   support innovation, experimentation, learning, monitoring, and evaluation?
• Ultimately how can Ethiopia benefit from the digital revolution, and what must Ethiopia do to master the digital transformation age?

Many of the answers lie in disruptive innovations and thinking. It is believed that those who are at the forefront of their different fields shine insight and use innovative thinking to help overcome obstacles and find solutions to these questions.

Opening: Mrs. Yenenesh Egu. Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia Agricultural and Horticulture Extension Lead Executive Officer

Panel 1

• Moderator Mr. Njinginya, Pie FAO Ethiopia 
• Dr. Solomon Tessema. Ministry of Innovation and Technology 
• Mr. Teshome Daniel Ministry of Education 
  He presented the output innovation grant (UNDP/UK). We are supporting a mobile phone application which sends an alarm message to coffee farmers with for instance that there is a plant disease around in their area.
• Dr. Girma Mamo Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research
• Dr. Hassen Hussain Entrepreneurship Development Institute 

Panel 2: What are the supporting mechanisms for young and women innovators?

• Mr. Teshome Daniel Ministry of Education
• Dr. Hassen Hussain Entrepreneurship Development Institute 
• Dr. Solomon Tessema Ministry of Innovation and Technology 
• Mr. Teshome Daniel Ministry of Education
• Closing: Ms. Yenenesh Egu Ministry of Agriculture

Related: A Global Network on Digital Agriculture Innovation Hubs

Related: 7 July 2021. Digital Disruption in Agriculture and Digital Based Farm Services in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has committed itself to modernizing its agriculture, and has in recent years made significant investment in agro processing capacity, to add value to its agricultural products. In addition, it has made plans to increase irrigated agriculture, and mechanization to enhance production capacity in a range of agricultural commodities. 

These goals require an extensive and digitally enabled transformation, and use of ICT technologies. Among the things required for the shift are innovations in service provision, improvement in inputs, logistics, and reduction of post-harvest loss. 

From experience observed elsewhere, such innovations and ICT tools can transform both entire value chains and the relationships across these value chains. With coordinated and well thought and targeted interventions millions of farmers stand to raise their incomes, and businesses stand to benefit, while the overall efficiency of the agricultural and food sector can be improved. As agricultural transformation is one of the main pillars of our country’s commitment to change, how agricultural digitalization can help Ethiopia will take center stage in this session. 

• Moderator : Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, chief happiness officer, blueMoon 
• Opening Remarks: H.E. Dr. Ahmedin Mohammed, State Minister- Ministry of Innovation and Technology 
• Temesgen Gebeyehu, Digital Agriculture Program Director - Agricultural Transformation Agency 
• Tewodros Zewdie, Executive Director - Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association 
• Dr. Addisalem Bitew, Executive Officer Civil informatics and Geospatial Process- ECDSWC 
• Abrhame Endrias, Founder and Managing Director - Lersha