Industrial Agri-Food Labs Pilot Program Starts

Agri-Food Labs

Industrial agri-food labs pilot program has been commenced in areas where industrial parks' constructions are underway, and would start function when the parks enter production phase.

So said Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Enterprise Director Teshale Belhu in an interview with The Ethiopian Herald.

The director indicated that the labs would offer services in line with the agricultural inputs of the areas.

Yirgalem, Bulbula, Bure and Humera industrial parks' project are sites the program is under implementation, he added.

The program is being carried out with a six million USD outlay secured from World Bank to support agri-food testing services, Enterprise Director Teshale Belhu told The Ethiopian Herald.

"Upon completion, the labs would provide services to food-processors at a reasonable price; cutting time and cost spent to get the service oversees."

Mainly, the services would increase producers' competitiveness in the international market; hence the facilities' impact on product and productivity is huge, he added.

The Enterprise is working in concert with stakeholders to bridge rifts of equipment, competent human capital, particularly through strengthening University-Industry linkage, the director underscored.

He further noted that Agri-food laboratory testing service include industry processed and unprocessed inputs and have two calibration methods--chemical and microbiological analysis that help investigate microorganisms on foods or beverages.

Ethiopia has established various industrial parks across the length and breadth of the country to expedite its economic structural transformation ambition. By 2019/2020 the country envisioned to reach the share of industry to the GDP to 22.3 percent from current 15.1. And the agri-labs would play a crucial role.