Japan has donated over 92,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser valued
at valued at 490 million Japanese yen to Ethiopia based upon the exchange of
notes signed between the two countries in December 2012 to complement Ethiopian
government efforts to increase crop production.
The Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia Hiroyuki Kishino while
making the donation said that Japan was pleased to play a modest role in
mitigating the existing supply-demand gap of fertilizer through its
Grant-in-aid Scheme, KR II.
Kishino noted from that the fertilizer would contribute to
improving the people’s livelihoods and facilitate the Ethiopian efforts being
carried out to achieve the agricultural targets stipulated in the GTP.
“In view of the dominant role of agriculture in the Ethiopian
economy and the projected average annual growth rate for agriculture of 8.6 per
cent for five years, agriculture has continued to be a priority sector in
Japan's ODA policy toward Ethiopia.
“Food security, which includes agricultural and rural development
as well as water supply, is one of the two main pillars of Japan's ODA policy
in Ethiopia together with industrial development. Japan would continue to
support smallholder farmers so that they can increase productivity in
agriculture,” the Japanese ambassador said.
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