Addis Ababa, June 22, 2022(Walta) – Sidama Industrial Park Development Corporation stated that two avocado factories in Yirgalem Integrated Agro-Industrial Park have secured 2.4 million USD from exporting avocado over the last ten months of the current Ethiopian fiscal year.
Corporation Business and Development Corporate Communication Director Petros Markos told The EPA that 22 investors have agreed to work in cooperation with the state and started production. The two avocado factories have created market linkages for 88,000 farmers organized in 22 basic cooperatives.
The investors have engaged in factories to produce avocado, edible oil, honey, and milk products. “WBM Factory Recently began exporting 168,000 avocado crude oil and earned 845,000 USD. In ten months, avocado factories have received over 3 million kilograms of raw avocados from farmers and used it.”
Avocado has so far exported 40 rounds since the factories commenced and some 5.5 million USD is secured, according to him. When two avocado factories get enough products, they will produce at full capacity. The corporation has now created job opportunities for 250,000 citizens, he added. However, some drawbacks like shortage of raw material and limitation of service provided by the government are witnessed, he stated. Yirgalem Integrated Agro-Industrial Park is selected as a pilot among four industrial parks in the nation.