Healthy living trends are boosting the consumption of fruit and vegetables. Ethiopia has a wide range of fruit and vegetables, such as avocados, green beans and mangoes. These have great potential in the European market. Still, some steps are necessary for Ethiopia to develop an export market. These include lowering costs, increasing market opportunities, and improving land and sea logistics. Sea freight export offers the capacity to export larger volumes. This export method also has a lower environmental impact.
In 2021, the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) started the Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Ethiopia project. This project focuses on transitioning Ethiopian horticulture to a sustainable export alternative. In this project, CBI helps Ethiopian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) gain experience in exporting to the European Union (EU), Gulf Cooperation Council countries and other countries in the Middle East via sea freight.
Project goals
This project aims to:
- Increase the sustainability and competitiveness of the Ethiopian fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) sector. To do this, the project focuses on shifting export from air freight to sea freight;
- Support the establishment of effective service delivery for SMEs in the sector;
- Help build a sector collaboration platform. This will help create a more export-enabling environment for sea freight;
- Establish Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and gender awareness in the Ethiopian FFV sector.
Activities
This project includes:
- Support with the creation of an international market strategy;
- Coaching on how to organise exports via sea freight;
- Help implementing CSR practices;
- Individual technical support from CBI sector experts;
- Workshops on requirements and certifications, such as EU FFV quality and food safety requirements; and
- Market-entry activities, such as trade fairs and B2B matchmaking.
More information: CBI