Addis Ababa, March 26/2024 (ENA) German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) has awarded 33 million Birr to Ethiopian innovators with a view to promoting agricultural mechanization for smallholder farmers today.
According to Agricultural Mechanization Advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture, Tamiru Habte, the award will improve local innovative capacity and at the same time encourage innovators.
It will also play significant role in reducing imported inputs of agricultural mechanization, he added.
“This support has come at the right time when our country is moving in a different direction in the production of rice and wheat. This will also contribute to the enhancement of production and productivity of the country.”
Agricultural Mechanization for Smallholder Farmers project team leader, Pascal Kaumbutho said on his part that the youth in Africa are not taking on farming.
“The way to bring them to farming is through mechanization. So, today we are here to see how we could reward those who are helping us by being innovative, bringing new ideas and ways of doing the same thing that we are trying to do.”
On the occasion, GIZ handed over 33 million Birr to help the innovators projects in agricultural mechanization.
Among the awarded projects include, electric powered tractor, drone chemical spray, and solar power irrigation technology.
The award intends to create an enabling environment for those innovators to materialize their ideas by improving the framework conditions and reinforcing agricultural mechanization in Ethiopia.
The nation’s agricultural mechanization strategy envisages eradicating poverty, creating jobs, ensuring food security, domestically replacing imported items, and promoting SMEs.
Currently, the Ethiopian government has embarked on adopting agricultural mechanization solutions as ways of achieving sustainable increase in agricultural productivity and achieve surplus production across the country.