The State of Eritrea

Ministry of Agriculture Newsletter

A Monthly Newsletter Prepared by the Public Relations Division, Issue No 59, May 2023

Eritrea Organizes First National Organic
Fertilizer Conference“Organic Fertilizers to Boost Safe and Nutritious Food Production”
Ensuring safe and nutritious food for the Eritrean
people is the mandate of the Agriculture and Marine
sectors. For this reason, both Ministries were working
very closely together to create the ground for the
production of natural fertilizers and pesticides forthe last two years. As a result both ministries jointly
organized a National Organic Fertilizers Conference
on the 26th and 27th of April, the conference hall
within the premises of the National Confederationof Eritrean Workers’ headquarters office was fully
occupied by the participants of the first National
Organic Fertilizer Conference, among whom were
H.E. Mr. Arefaine Berhe, Minister of Agriculture; H.E.
Mr. Tewelde Kelati, Minister of Marine Resources;
H.E. Mr. Tesfai Gebreselassie, Minister of Land, Water
and Environment; H.E. Mr. Yemane Gebremeskel,
Minister of Information; H.E. Mr. Fissehaye Haile,
Governor of the Central Region; H.E. Mr. Mcebisi
Skwatsha, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the
Republic of South Africa, the Ambassadors of the
Republic of South Africa, The Republic of Italy,
European delegation, Head of UN Agencies, Director
generals from different Eritrean Ministries, General
Managers of corporations, College Deans, senior
experts, exemplary farmers as well as invited guests
from inside and outside the country.

The event commenced with a moment of silence inremembrance of the Eritrean martyrs, followed by
an opening speech by Mr. Semere Amlesom, Director
General of MoA’s Agricultural Extension Department(AED). He pointed out that organizing the event is
the outcome of the promising achievements thathave been registered in terms of production of bothsolid and liquid fertilizers.
Subsequently, in delivering the keynote speech,
H.E. Mr. Arefaine welcomed all participants of theconference and said, “Soil is the basis of all life anda living body itself and that is precisely the reason
why it should be treated with utmost care.” The
Minister of Agriculture further emphasized theneed to harness all resources towards production
and standardization of all forms of organic fertilizer,
including the domestic waste, under the theme“Even our waste is our resource.”
In conclusion, H.E. Mr. Arefaine stated, “Consideringthat we have to provide safe and nutritious foodto our population, the government has decided tofocus on organic fertilizers.” He also said that it has
been only over two years since Eritrea embarked
upon such an important initiative, and hence theH.E Arefaine Berhe

1

Mr. Semere Amlesomdifferent internal and external actors so that we
can draw a much more robust roadmap for a better
result,” Minister Arefaine said.

experience accumulated so far is very modest.
“That is precisely the reason why we have organized
this platform: In order to share experiences withDuring the conference, which
was organized jointly by the
Ministries of Agriculture; andMarine Resources; a total of
18 papers were presented byexperts from the two ministries,
as well as invited professionals
from Eritrea, Uganda, Rwanda
and Germany, on top of a video
presentation from Benin.

on Crop Yield: Case Studiesof Geshnashim, Halhale andMerhano.” The study focusedon compost application rates
on vegetables and wheat crops
and the statistical result showedsignificantly increase in the yieldof the crops as a result of compost
application. The paper concluded
that the study can serve as asource of firsthand information
to local farmers and especially tothe progressive ones.
The second presentation wason“TechnicalExperienceofContextually
Adaptive
Approaches
toCompostProduction” by Mr. Fekadu
Tesfamichael, a Consultant on
Soil and Water Conservation,
Irrigation Services, as well

Mr. Dermas Sultan

Mr. Dermas Sultan, Chairpersonof the National Organic Fertilizer
and Bio-pesticide Promotion
Committee, and Head of Soil
Research Unit in the National
Agricultural Research Institute(NARI), presented the first
paper: “The Impact of Compost

Mr. Fekadu Tesfamichael2

as Compost Production andManagement. This paper isanchored on the practicalexperiences of the presenter,and explains how compost canbe made with relative easeeven under the prevailingcircumstances.

Mr. Abraham Michael“Pioneering
Large
Scale
Compost Production in Eritrea– Achievements and Lessons
Learned”: was the title of the thirdpresentation by Mr. Abraham
Michael, General Manager ofAzieb Agroindustry. Mr. Abrham
explained that the company’s
major challenge in managing andtreating the organic wastes of thedairy farm into an eco-friendly,cost effective fertilizer which
was effectively used in forage
production.

Ms. Adiam Rezene

The next presentation by Ms.
Adiam
Rezene,Agronomy
Expert in Berik Sub-zone of
the Central Region,focused on
Bokashi production. Bokashi isa Fermented Organic Fertilizer,
which has already become
popular among the exemplary
farmers and experts all over
Eritrea. The essence of thetechnology is multiplication of
essential micro-organisms in thesoil to increase soil fertility.
Mr.
SemereWoldeamlak,
Agricultural Engineering Expert
and Head of Dams and Diversions
Development Unit from MoA’s
AED, presented the next on“Making Compost from Domestic

Mr. Semere Woldeamlak

Waste” as 70% of the municipality
waste in Eritrea is organic,
and can easily be converted
into very high quality fertilizer
which can boost agricultural
production and productivity.
The importance, preparation,
application and laboratory resultsof domestic waste compost wereexplained briefly in the paper.
Recommendations were also
made for up-scaling domestic
waste compost in all municipal
administrations of Eritrea.
The next presenter was Mr.
TemesgenGebremeskel,aLecturer in Mai-Nefhi College of
Science’s Department of Biology
and member of the National
Organic Fertilizer and Biopesticide Promotion Committee.

Mr. Temesgen Gebremeskel

His paper focused on the Impactof Organic Fish Amino Acidand Seaweed Liquid Fertilizer
on Plant Health and Yield.
The presentation highlighted
the results of the trials andexperiments conducted. The
result verified the efficacy ofboth liquid fertilizers on different
plants at different agro-ecologicalzones of the country.
Following, Mr. Bahlbi Goitom,
Soil Science Expert and Head of
Monitoring and Evaluation Unitin the MoA, presented a paper on

3

Mr. Bahlbi Goitom“the Effect of Organic Fertilizers
on Crop and Soil Properties
from Farmers’ Perspective,” inthe Central Region of Eritrea.
Accordingly, he said farmers areaware that compost improves
moisture
holding
capacity,
reduces soil cracking, changes
soil color (attributed to organic
matter content), eases tillage andless pest appearance (related
to health crop). Hence there isa growing demand for organic
fertilizers by farmers.
A paper that explained the joint
initiative of the MoMR and MoA
with regards to development ofa bioprocessing technology toconvert Eritrea’s underutilized
marine resources into valuable
fertilizers was also presented:
was presented by Mr. Yihdego

Mr. Yihdego TeweldeTewelde, Marine Biologist from
Marine Research and Socioeconomic Division of MoMR under
the title “Establishment of ‘Abdur
Underutilized Marine Resources
Processing Plant: A Joint Initiativeof the MoMR and MoA to Convert
Waste in to Organic Liquid
Fertilizes,”. The plant’s entire
workflow and level of production
was discussed.
In the same vein, Mr. Jürgen
Amthor,representing
Eubenheimer Manufaktur ofGermany, took turn to present
his paper titled, “Organic
Fertilizer with Microorganisms forRegenerative Farming in Eritrea,
because Health Starts in the Soil.”of Tesinma Share Company,
Eritrea. This paper highlighted
the areas of preservation andimprovement of soil, targets for
agricultural production, systems ofsmall scale-farming, solutions foragro-industries and improvementof agricultural production throughwater management.
Then Mr. Dawit Tesfai, Head ofAgricultural Land Regulatory
Unit in the Regulatory Services
Department (RSD), presented
his paper of a special focus:
Mr. Muwanika Tanansi Chris“Regulating Organic Fertilizer:
Organization (NARO) Holdings from Current Situation and Future
Uganda. Mr Muwanika elucidated Prospects.” Explaining that the RSD
that different organic fertilizers has already developed guidelines
applied positively and negatively and standards for registration andby other institutions influenced
the growth and yield of selected
vegetables, while application of
NARO’s self-produced bio-fertilizer
improved the growth and yield of
cabbage, tomato, eggplant andgreen pepper. Accordingly, theimprovement on Kale was moreon vegetative growth and had no
significant impact on yield. It was
further discussed that, based on
the findings, NARO’s bio-fertilizer
production scope increased toboost vegetable yield.

Mr. Jürgen Amthor

Mr. Dawit Tesfai“Sustainable
Agriculture,
The contents of the presentation
Possibilities in Eritrea,” was the certification of organic fertilizers,
focused on the basics ofpresentation made by Engineer he pointed out that this stage
regenerative agriculture; negative
Tesfay Yihdego, General Manager can ensure implementation ofeffects of conventional agriculture;
the guidelines and standards
how microorganisms work for thefor registration and certificationsoil, and thus for humans, animals
purposes.
and the environment; as well as
Bokashi and other liquid fertilizers
with some examples from thepractices of the farmers in Europe
and Africa.

Following this paper on the, “Effectof Bio-Fertilizer (NARO BHL BF)
on Growth and Yield of Selected
Vegetables,” was presented by
Mr. Muwanika Tanansi Chris, CEO
of National Agricultural Research

Mr. Tesfay Yihdego (Engineer)

4

Next was the presentation of thepaper “NOGAMU’s experiencein addressing the challenge oflow production and productivity
to respond to local, regionaland global organic market
opportunities” by Mr. Chariton
Namuwoza, Chief Executive Officerof National Organic Agricultural
Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU).
Mr. Chariton emphasised on

Mr. Chariton Namuwoza

promoting and supporting local
manufacturing of organic inputs.
His organization provides a cocktail
of services including advocacy,
standards and certification, as
well as market linkage services tolocal organic input manufacturers
with the aim of ensuring increased
farmer access to more affordable,
effective and certified organic
inputs. He concludes that this
holistic approach – involving a
combination of services - forboth farmers and local organic
input manufacturers is necessary
to address the challenge of low
production and productivity andis due to significantly impact
Uganda’s volume and value oforganic trade in the short and longrun.

Following, two distinct but
interrelated
papers,“Crop
Response to Green Manure
Application from Selected Shrubs
and Tree Species in Smallholder
farms in Eritrea” and “Effectof biomass application of intra
hedge-row spacing of Leucaena
leucocephala on the yield ofWheat,” were presented by Mr.
Zerai Sultan, NARI’s Forestry
Research Unit Head, and Mr. Huruy
Frezghi from Watershed Research
Unit of NARI, clearly confirmedthat tree/shrub biomass transfer
technology could be used as an
Mr. Medhanie Mihreteab
alternative to synthetic fertilizers Africa, was given an opportunity
for vegetable production, while to present his paper on promoting
application of L. leucocephala sustainable soil management
to increase organic resourcesin farmlands and landscapes of
Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper
elaborated the need to promotesustainable soil management in
Africa. He also highlighted thepotential threats of soil functionin Africa, also addressing several
favorable approaches includingthat of boosting soil healththrough enhanced soil organic
matter, agro-forestry, integratedc r o p - l i v e s t o c k- a q u a c u l t u r emanagement. This approach
optimized nutrient management
Mr. Huruy Frezghi
based on soil organic matter andinnovative technologies in organic
biomass as green manure is of agriculture, among others.
potential use to farmers as organic
source of nutrients.
Mr. Medhanie Mihreteab, Lecturer
in Hamelmalo Agricultural Collegeof Eritrea, presented a paper on
his research findings entailedemphasis “Effects of Tillage, Farm
Yard Manure and Mulch on Soil
Physico-Chemical Properties andYield of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor
L. Moench)”

Mr. Zerai Sultan

Mr. Eugene Rurangwa, Land andWater Officer representing FAO’s
Sub-regional Office for West

5

Mr. Eugene Rurangwa

shelf-life. So far, we have reached more than 30% of
our farmers through our awareness-raising activities,
accompanied participatory demonstrations. As aresult, even farmers who did not have training onorganic fertilizers were motivated to use them byseeing other successful farmers. We could confirm
this with a growing demand of Indigenous Microorganisms Level-3 (IMO-3).

One of the sessions of the conference constituted
handing of certificates of merit to three experts, three
exemplary farmers and two private dairy processing
businesses, Azieb Agroindustry and Tsegana Dairy
Farm and Milk Processing Plant. The special award of
the conference went to Ms. Adiam Rezene, Agronomy
Expert in the Berik Sub-zone, for her pioneering rolein nurturing the initiative of promoting organic liquidand solid fertilizers with special emphasis on Bokashi Mr. Filimon Afewerki receiving a certificate from H.E. Tewelde Kelati
and domestic waste.
Mr. Teklehimanot Teweldemedhin, Agriculture
Expert in Adi-quala Sub-zone of the Southern Region,is another expert who was worthy of receiving thiscertificate of appreciation. The three exemplary
farmers who received certificates of appreciation
are: Mr. Fesehatsion Kidane, Mr. Angesom Isaac and
Mr. Teweldebrhan Zeweldi.

Ms. Adiam Rezene receiving her award from H.E. Arefaine Berhe

Mr. Filimon Afewerki, Plant Protection Expert inKeren Sub-zone of Anseba Region, was anotherexpert who was awarded certificate of appreciationin the conference for his outstanding contribution inraising the awareness of farmers regarding organic
fertilizer. The experts have been carrying out trials
that ensured commendable degree of participationon the part of farmers. “In the beginning, majorityof our farmers thought that usage of organic
fertilizers was only a theoretical idea but when, later,
they learned farmers who successfully utilized it invegetable production, the idea of using it started tosink in. The use of Bokashi, fish amino acid and see
weed fertilizer gave rise to a noticeable increment of
productivity of many varieties of vegetables and their

Mr. Teklehimanot Teweldemedhin

Mr. Fesehatsion Kidane

6Mr. Angesom Issac

Mr. Teweldebrhan Zeweldi (represented by his son)

Tsegana Dairy Farm and Milk Processing Plant,
represented by Mr. Mussie Gaim

Azieb Agroindustry, represented by Mr. Abrham Michael

Exposure visits were parts of the event where ateam of participants of the conference, including allof those from abroad, visited ABDUR Underutilized
Marine Resources Processing Plant in Massawa, andAzieb Agroindustry in Halhale. The team had alsoa chance to spend some hours beyond the coastalline of the Red Sea, swimming in the shores of thespectacular Green Island, which is important both
ecologically and historically. In Halhale, the visiting
team had ample time to observe the entire steps ofworkflow in the plant’s cheese-making procedures
and the subsequent activities that are being carriedout to convert its entire byproducts to compost. It
is after the winding up of this trip that our guests
from abroad shared their overall impressions on theconference with us and we have quoted them asfollows:

regenerative farming system, giving sustainable life
to the soil. I can say that the conference was further
interesting and more helpful as a result of the factthat it materialized as the fruit of a cooperative
initiative between the two Eritrean ministries. I feelthat the National Organic Fertilizer and Bio-pesticide
Promotion Committee has now ensured a promising
network for the future.
There are a number of things that we can do together.
I think Eritrea needs a high-standard organic fertilizer

Mr. Jürgen Amthor
I am a biologist from Germany, founder ofEubenheimer Manufactur Private Company. I develop
world-wide fertilizers and probiotic products withmicroorganisms, which I think is special.
The conference was really great. This is my first visit
to Eritrea and I could see a wonderful country withspecial perspectives. The conference was of a great
profile and organization. We could see that there is a
way to do away with chemical fertilizer and adhere to

Mr. Jürgen Amthor

7

factory, while taking the standardization capacity
thereof to a higher level. Farmers need additional
training on regenerative agricultural system. As
an expert, I can help in these areas, and with themicroorganisms that I produce. This can help Eritrea
in securing both healthy and nutritious food.
Mr. Eugene Rurangwa

all sustainable means possible to maintain soils alive
through different innovative methods of sustainablesoil health and fertility management. Such methods
can improve soil organic matter and nutrients forsustainable production of safe food while preserving
the natural capital and conserving biodiversity as
well as the environment for the wellbeing of people
and the planet as a whole. Experiences from Eritrea
and Uganda showed how liquid and solid waste
are valuable resources that could generate many
benefits for people and the environment: productionof organic fertilizers, electricity, cooking gas, soaps,
etc. All these new ideas show how the works ofresearchers are fundamental.
It is beneficial that production and standardizationof organic fertilizers go together because productionof good quality of organic fertilizers will boost theefficiency of the products and the economic, socialand environmental interests by all stakeholders. This
also opens wider the doors for national, regional andinternational markets.

Mr. Eugene Rurangwa

Production of organic fertilizers requires hugeamount of biomass, manure from livestock and goodquality of water. My advice would be to intensify
agroforestry and forestry practices in farmlands andlandscapes ecosystems, as well as in towns (urban
forestry), intensify and diversify livestock practices,
promote aquaculture, promote integrated water
resource management and water access through rainwater harvesting technique to ensure water supply
all along the year without relying on sporading rain
fall.

I am Land and Water Officer at the Food andAgriculture Organization of United Nations (FAO).
I was privileged to be nominated by our Assistant
Director General and FAO Regional Representative
for Africa to honor the invitation from the Ministerof Agriculture to attend this important conference
and make a presentation on FAO’ work in promoting
sustainable soil management and soil healthto increase organic resources in farmlands and
It is within the mandate of FAO to mainly support
landscapes in Sub-Saharan Africa. I take thistechnically countries in many areas of agri-food
opportunity to convey my sincere gratitude to H.E.
systems transformation like: land and water
the Minister of Agriculture for having invited FAO.
management, plant production and protection,
I was impressed by the leadership of this Country. To livestock development, forestry, fisheries andsee two Ministers of different portfolios (MoA and aquaculture, agri-business and agro-industries andMoMR) to jointly hand and organize a Conference of many more. And FAO has a Country Representationsuch importance and going further in jointly putting here in Eritrea who works closely with the MoA
in place a framework to promote organic fertilizers and other Ministries. Let me tell you also that suchis a lesson learned in itself and very commendable. initiative from the Eritrean MoA towards development
National experts and researchers have clearly shown, of organic fertilizers in a bid to improving soil healththrough different experiments conducted on the and boosting soil productivity as well as nutrition isfield and labs, that use of different types of organic in perfect coherence with the new FAO’s Strategic
fertilizer improved both soil productivity and soil Framework through FAO’s Conceptual Framework ofhealth. It was amazing and insightful to see how solid 4 Betters: Better Production, Better Nutrition, Betterand liquid organic fertilizers are being processed Environment, Better Life, letting no one behind. I
locally too.
believe that FAO will continue to support technicallythe ministry in this area through its diverse land andI believe that this conference has awakened many
water management programs, such as AFRISOILS,
people and raised the expectation high in exploring

8

SOILS DOCTORS, AFRILAB, DIGITAL SOIL MAPPING, Mr. Chariton Namuwoza
and Rain Water Harvesting, based on training andsharing of technical tools.
So, I would like to congratulate the Leadership ofboth Ministries (MoA and MoMR for the brilliant andimportant initiative of promoting organic fertilizers,
essential to maintain soil health for many advantages.
“WHERE THERE IS A WILL THERE IS A WAY,” and as
someone who has a good will, I wish them success inthe near future.
Mr. Chris Muwanika
I am Crop Scientist and Agribusiness Manager
representing NARO. The conference was wellorganized, coordinated and facilitated. I can say thatthe momentum generated and network created could
be exploited to translate prototypes into tangible
products for wider impact. Moreover, the conference
provided a great platform to learn, unlearn andreturn new insights about organic inputs. It clearly
demonstrated the potential of organic inputs insustaining productivity and alleviating environmental
challenges. The level of stakeholder engagement aswell as participation was commendable. The desireof the Eritrean experts for intellectual challenge ishighly appreciated.

Mr. Chariton Namuwoza

I am the CEO of NOGAMU, the umbrella organizationfor organic producers in Uganda, which has been
in existence for 22 years. Our government made adeclaration in the form of approving the nationalorganic agriculture policy in 2019 and, consequently,
we have seen a number of investors, includingorganic fertilizer manufacturers. So, we are very
Having said this, I would like to encourage the National excited, as an organization, to be part of the National
Organic Fertilizer and Bio-pesticide Promotion Organic Fertilizer Conference organized by Eritrea.
Committee to further focus on concretization of We have had a wonderful stay since our arrival. We
evidence/data and development of standardized especially enjoyed the warmth, love, the peacefulplan protocols etc. NARO espouses partnerships and and welcoming nature of the Eritrean people, andis open to collaboration in aspects that lead to agro- most importantly, the peace across we have visited:transformation. Exchange of scientists to provide Asmara, Massawa and here in Halhale.
technical support or training could be possible, in
addition to joint proposal draft for regional projects. We have further seen a lot of commitments from
Additionally, I do recommend annual events of this the government regarding this conference: Many
ministers participated in every single session of thetype to give added momentum to the initiative.
conference. We also came across an extraordinary
experience of the simple lifestyle the high-ranking
Eritrean officials have. Everybody interacted very
freely with them and their zeal to take Eritrea to ahigher level of organic farming was clearly noticeable.
Such a commitment on the part of the Eritrean
government is an important strong side. There is, ofcourse, a considerable degree of commitment fromthe private sector too. It was a wonderful time forme as I just visited Eritrea for the first time. And I
am excited, on behalf of my organization, that we
can happily and freely share our knowledge andexperiences, as Uganda is the African country withthe first certified organic project, and a country withthe leading number of organic farmers in Africa
and the second one in the world. I have learnt a lot
Mr. Chris Muwanika

9that I should take back home as well. I think that it
is also right to consider ourselves as resources, notonly to our individual countries but for other Africancountries too.
Summary of the lessons learnt: By Mr. Dermas Sultan,
Chairperson of the National Organic Fertilizer andBio-pesticide Promotion Committee:

3. Need to import equipment and raw materials
needed for production of high-quality and bumperorganic fertilizers (IEO concentrate, molasses etc)
4. Need for further improvements in the fermentationand packaging process of liquid fertilizers
5. Initiative to take part in African Summit on Organic
Fertilizer
6. Linkages and relationships to target need to pursue:
1. Need for further improvement in terms of• A. Training opportunities
standardization and productivity of organic fertilizers• B. Lab facilities
2. Need for further improvements in the process• C. Accreditation and certification of productionof identification, culturing and handling of organic(at national and regional level)
fertilizers
7. Looking for prospects of export of organic fertilizer***

Editor-In-Chief: Ermias Solomon, Director of Public Relations Division: Email:- ersohab@gmail.com, Tel: +291-1-182225/ +2917143877
Editor-In-Chief: Ermias Solomon, Director of Public Relations Division: Email:- ersohab@gmail.com, Tel: +291-1-182225/ +2917143877
Assisstant Editor-In-Chief: Filmawit Measho; Translator: Medhanie Tsegai
Assisstant Editor-In-Chief: Filmawit Measho; Chief Contributor: Medhanie Tsegai
Photo Credit: Aradom Bereket, Habteab Andemariam, Abraham Berhane, Tomas Mehari
Photo Credit: Habteab Andemariam, Tomas Mehari, Robiel Kifleyesus

10