Capital

Power for all at the new millennium

By Groum Abate

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) announced last week that it is slashing the number of power shedding days to six a month from the unbearable eight days a month of darkness recently. The power shedding was at its peak only two weeks ago when the corporation was forced to make the shedding to ten days a month, a big blow to the country’s image which had improved if only just.
EEPCo had been giving power to investments without minimum delay over process the last few years, which contrasts to households which have to be on the waiting list for up to 2 years.
According to some experts, the corporation has over-supplied its power supply or used power generation dams to their fullest capacity without forecasting current and future demand. A shortage of water in dams, as we all know now; was never the problem. The power crisis adds to the high inflation, also resulting to shortages of products.
EEPCo has supplied 30% more power in the last nine months of the 2000 (Ethiopian Calendar – 2008) fiscal year than it had in the whole of the 1999 E.C budget year.
According to statistics, power demand in the country increases by 10% every year. But power generation has not risen accordingly despite the vast projects the corporation is undertaking.
In the past 15 years, only one power plant has been constructed and gone operational. The projects have been delayed many times over the last two years, such as the Tekezze Hydropower Plant 300MW. If Tekezze had come on stream the power shortage would not have occurred and even some surplus power could have been available for export.
Activities have been underway to export electricity to neighboring countries, who are eyeing Ethiopia as their next power partner.
Asfaw Dengamo, Minister of Mines and Energy, told a gathering at a ceremony to, launch construction of Ethiopias largest ever power plant, Gibe III, that Ethiopia’s rivers could soon be ‘our white oil’.
This ambition is not that far fetched but the corporation could be wiser in future power supply schemes by revising the practice of giving unlimited power to big investments. This, according to expert, should be considered seriously. The experts say that if the problem is water and the power demand increases 10% every year, the shortage could not go over four days a month of power shedding.
The shortage has been more serious in regional towns. In Jimma, 346 km south-west of Addis Ababa, electric power had been down for five consecutive days two weeks ago.
The corporation should also be connected with the East Africa Pool Power Grid promptly. That could help the country to get badly needed foreign currency.
The corporation should also take into consideration for the timely completion of its power plant projects that would probably make a brighter future for Ethiopia.
One thing some would notice is the big billboard with grim face at Meskal Square promoting the corporation. It reads, ‘Power for all in the new Millennium’.

USAID agribusiness, trade expansion program

By Muluken Yewondwossen

The Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) is established to secure self-sufficiency through increased productivity and production of cereals, pulses, oil crops, vegetables and fruits, and to promote export commodities by improving the quality and quantity of coffee, tea, cotton, pulses, oil crops, spices, vegetables, fruits, sugar and other industrial crops.
The Melkassa Research Center (MARC) is the main implementing organization for EIAR activities in the horticulture, pulses and oil seeds crops.
Agribusiness and Trade Expansion Program (ATEP) is a three year initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to strengthen four industry sectors in Ethiopia: horticulture; coffee; hides, skins and leather; and oilseeds & pulses. The three-year program (April 2006 to March 2009) works with smallholder farmers, processors, exporters and traders engaged in the main agro industrial sectors of Ethiopia in Tigray, Amhara, SNNPR and Oromia Regions.
The USAID Agribusiness and Trade Expansion Program is being implemented by the U.S. agribusiness firm, Fintrac Inc., in conjunction with an array of partners including the Rainforest Alliance, Boot Consulting, the Economic Competitiveness Group, Manchester Trade, and numerous Ethiopian private and public sector organizations including the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association (EHPEA), the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters’ Association (ECEA), the Ethiopian Leather Industry Association (EllA), the Pulses, Oilseeds & Spices Processors Exporters Association, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI).
The Agribusiness and Trade Expansion Program and Melkassa Research Center signed a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2007 relating to a Horticulture and Pulses Field Day with the following objectives; to demonstrate the productivity and commercial viability of selected vegetable and pulses crops through a professional variety trial, to provide agronomic and technical information on new varieties, hybrid vegetable seeds and good agricultural practice, to raise awareness of new opportunities for vegetable and pulses crops for the export, processing and local markets, to develop improved access and availability of seeds to farmers through the mechanism of trials, official variety registration and subsequent retail sales and to create an opportunity for leading vegetable seed companies and horticulture input suppliers to demonstrate new technologies.
Haricot Bean Seed has been a key constraint facing the Pulses Sector, where availability of approved seed satisfies less than 10% of national demand. The Oilseeds and Pulses Sector of ATEP and the MARC are currently collaborating in the production and multiplication of seed for Haricot Beans to help address this issue as follows;
Technology Fund Grant of 14,500 dollar from ATEP to MARC to establish an official high-purity “Basic Seed” crop of Haricot beans in June 2007, 82 metric tons of “Basic Seed” were harvested in December 2007 and will be sold to the Ethiopian Seed Enterprise, Farmers Cooperative Unions, selected NGO’s and leading exporters, “Basic Seed” will then be planted in July 2008, producing a subsequent multiplication target of2,000 tons of “Certified Seed” in December 2008, “Certified Seed” will be sold to 15,000 farmers, facilitating 20,000 hectares of haricot bean crops for the 2009 rainy season, production target of 36,000 tons of dry beans in late 2009 sold at 450 dollar per ton worth a total of 16.2million dollar in rural farm incomes.
On horticulture sector client and counterpart investment in new technologies of 15 million dollar, increased sales by assisted farmers of 100 percent above baseline and increased yields by assisted farmers of 100 percent above national average.
Currently, in the horticulture sector the USAID Agribusiness and Trade Expansion Program has provided intensive training and technical assistance activities with lead clients and beneficiaries in support of vegetable and diversified floriculture exports, as well as local market supply of vegetable crops to fresh and processing buyers.
Up to now the project has 25 lead clients including producers, farmer groups, exporters, etc. and 470 beneficiary farmers working directly with lead clients. Farm trainings continued for farmers with training in improved production, post harvest handling and GAP protocols. A total of 143 trainings events including 25 workshops were conducted on strawberry and grape production, food safety systems, and global GAP.
Land preparation, mulching and planting, hybrid seeds and seedling production, drip irrigation and water management, integrated pest management, and packing and processing are a technical assistance that provided on the sector.
Market linkages has facilitated 15 inward buyers investor missions oriented at export markets, as well as 25 export and domestic market buyer linkages.
Also, the project has supported new product exports including sugar snap peas, snow peas, baby corn, chillies, baby courgettes, french beans, and specialized summer flowers.
On oilseeds/pulses sector, client and counterpart investment in new technology increased by 1 million dollars. The oilseeds and pulses team is helping farmers to increase yield and improve quality in order to qualify for higher export grades and increase farm sales and employment.
The project is working with 24 lead clients engaged in oilseeds and pulses production, processing and marketing, including four large Farm Cooperative Unions (FCUs); a commercial farmers association; three investors; five smallholder farmers; and six exporters. These groups represent over 50,446 beneficiary client producers.
So far it conducted 70 training events out of which 50 are workshops. And above 9, 000 farmers, producers and processors development agents trained on major training areas include: production and quality of sesame seeds and haricot beans, integrated pest management, business development service and marketing.
The program has facilitated 5 export and domestic market buyer linkages.
In addition to that on coffee, client investment in new technology increased by 1.6 million dollars and increase in yields by assisted farmers is 25 percent. Hides, skins and leather sector client and counterpart investment increased by 5 million dollars.

Can Ethiopia benefit from the cinema boom?

By Abiy Demilew

Cinema, one of the leading cultural reflections, has been way too far from being considered a simple luxury and source of entertainment for those who treasure the power of it.
Many countries of the world who understood the values of motion pictures transformed their film initiatives towards industries, playing a significant role in the development of creative cultures anad economic development. Cinema can also be seen as a wide ranged industry creating employment opportunities especially for the youth.
Some countries like the United States and India, with their leading cinema industries, Hollywood and Bollywood, have invested enough for the development of their film industries, in multiplying qualified human skill, and building a competitive technological capacity for the production, distribution and exhibition of their films.
Both nations now enjoy the world's leading film industries with a fistful of strong creative economies, bypassing ideological, geographical, socio-political and the like boundaries; which also impact strongly on the creation of cultural globalization.
In Ethiopia for many years, there was and still exists is a culture of watching Indian movies which made and still make their presence regardless of the question of geographical extremes and barriers between the two countries; language and many other issues.
And for more than half a century, Ethiopia has also moved towards telling and expressing its tales within its own image. Some efforts have even been reflected in participations of international productions like Shaft in Africa.
The country also enjoyed its own film production even though they were too few. After the establishment of the Ethiopian Cinema Corporation, original productions were made in 35mm at international film quality standards of films such as 'Guma' 'Aster', 'Hirut Abatua Man New' and 'Behiwot Zuriya.'
The collapse of Ethiopian Cinema Corporation spelled the failure of local film production, leaving a vacuum and giving a wider chance and opportunity for the distribution and exhibition of international film productions, mainly American and Indian movies monopolizing cinemas of the metropolis and the country for many decades - until recently.
But after the closure of the Corporation, some efforts have been noticed in production of movies on video (VHS), most of which are characterised as 'stage dramas on video'. Having poor picture and sound quality, these videos somehow stirred the appetite of the audience, which had almost forgotten Ethiopian movies.
As filmmaking needs a lot of resources, it remained unthinkable for independent filmmakers to come up with their own production. But still there were a few like 'Yenekezech Hiwot', 'Senait', 'Hiwot Endewaza' etc.
The arrival of digital systems was as a welcome surprise for young Ethiopian filmmakers, introducing the possibility of quality sound and pictures. Moreover, the arrival of these technologies has dramatically improved filmmaking with cheaper and better quality, avoiding the complications of the former analogue technology and its inaccessibility.
Panicked at the sudden boom of movies, state owned cinema and theatre halls tried to block their screens for a while, still showing Western movies. But as the pressure of the new movies and the demand of the public rose, these halls could not resist any longer. 'Gudifecha' and 'Kezkaza Wolafen' could be mentioned as a couple of the many gate-openers.
Today, hordes of new movies are flourishing. Amazing numbers of movies are being attended in droves by audience queuing at cinemas.
The cinema boom has also widened its horizon and shown progress in the opening of the first private cinema halls, as the existing auditoriums could not handle the ever increasing demand. 'Alem', 'Agona' and 'Cephastophol' cinemas have now joined the market and become alternate destinations for movie lovers.
Only in the last few years, large numbers of new productions have been seen on the market with different techniques, styles and story telling, while new writers, directors, producers and actors flourish.
While story content, build-up, directing and production qualities are still critical questions and suspect by many; almost everyday, new releases come to the scene. Most of these productions are criticised as being a replica of Hollywood movies but of poor quality. Some have even been proven to be Amharic versions of Hollywood English movies.