Context
Ethiopia has experienced impressive socio-economic development in recent years. However, major challenges remain. Almost half of Ethiopia's population is younger than 15 years and will soon enter the job market. To keep up with rapid population growth, the country must create more than two million jobs annually.
The agriculture and food industry is seen to have enormous potential for job creation and development. Unfortunately, the sector lacks productivity innovative capacity, and investments to trigger further economic growth and thus employment. As such, companies in the sector are not growing enough to create jobs and meet employment needs.
Objective
The employment-generating growth of companies in Ethiopia’s agro-food industry is improving.
Approach
The project is part of Invest for Jobs, which is a brand of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It supports micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the agriculture and food industry in Ethiopia.
The project works to:
- improve the growth potential of companies in the agriculture and food industry by introducing process innovations. Companies can increase their efficiency and productivity, and thus their competitiveness and sales.
- improve conditions for investments in the agro-food industry by connecting and networking with African and European investors, and by linking companies to universities or research institutions.
- improve the economic ecosystems of agro-processing companies, in so-called clusters, to jointly identify solutions to existing obstacles to growth along supply chains.
Last update: October 2021