The State of Eritrea

Ministry of Agriculture Newsletter

A Monthly Newsletter prepared by the Public Relations Division, Issue No 42, December 2021

Eritrea: Value Addition Projects for Banana andCitrus Fruits Register Positive Results
Eritrea’s Ministry of Agriculture(MoA) is piloting value addition
projects for bananas and othercitrus fruits. The initiative aims
to help increase food alternatives
and minimize post-harvest losses.

Mr. Kahsay Negash,
Director of Crop and Livestock
Development Division

According to Mr. Kahsay Negash,
Director of Crop and Livestock
Development Division at theMoA’s Agricultural Extension
Department, the projects, whichwere launched in collaboration
with the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) three years
ago, are delivering promisingoutcomes.

successful as hoped in the past.
Determined to address this,in 2018, the MoA and theFAO launched two technicalcooperation projects (TCPs) which
aimed to promote value addition
in banana and citrus fruits indifferent parts of the country.

of horticulture crops, is facing
challenges related to effective andefficient post-harvest operationsandcommercialization.
Consequently, there have been
considerable losses of fruit andvegetables for many farmers. With
the idea of sorting these problems,
the MoA and FAO collectively took
the initiative to promote value
chain development of banana andcitrus fruits in Eritrea.

Currently, the importance ofconsuming sufficient amount offruits and vegetables daily is wellrecognized. There is a growing
awareness for their inclusion in a Furthermore Ms. Lidya pointed
balanced diet, both in developed out that the value addition projectand developing countries.
for bananas was launched in 2018,with a focus on the Gash-Barka
Ms. Lidya Teclemichael, a National region, namely Akurdat, Dige,
Project Coordinator for the Teseney, and Haykota (all of whichbanana value addition project, are areas traditionally known for
explained that in addition to the growing bananas).
government’s effort to promotehorticulture development, the The project has the following
sector requires improved and objectives: strengthening the value
adaptive technologies to preserve chain from farmers to consumers
and process horticulture crop and to reduce post-harvest losses;
produce.
promoting household food andnutrition security through having
According to Ms. Lidya, the overall different preservation methods
performance of existing value in the value chain; increasing theand supply chains, and market diversity of diet for the population;

Since independence, the MoA has
developed several value addition
projects, mainly within the animalresources sub-sector.
Mr. Kahsay notes that a number ofmeat and milk processing plants
have emerged and registeredencouraging results. However,value addition projects for fruits
and vegetables have not been as

Women in practical session on banana value addition in Tekreret, Gash Barka Region

1and contributing in market
coordination through enhanced
market information systems.
Furthermore, it is expected thatthe project can increase theparticipation of women and young
people and promote their sense ofentrepreneurship.
When describing the choice forbanana in the value addition
process, Ms. Lidya said, “Themain reason for choosing thiscrop is its high production level
in Eritrea. Banana plants produce
fruit almost throughout the year.
High production occurs in themonths of March through May.
However the fruit quickly spoils
after harvesting. This leads tosignificant post-harvest losses forfarmers. To avoid this, farmers areforced to sell their produce at avery low price during the harvest
season.”Banana Value Addition: recipes demonstarion in Akurdet, Gash Barka Region

beneficiary villages. Akurdet
sub-zone, in particular, hasregistered many positive resultsfor participants and beneficiaries.
Mainly, training and consultation
programs on sustainable value
chain and agribusiness practices
were delivered to MoA staff andother partners, including theMinistry of Health, Ministry ofTrade and Industry, National Unionof Eritrean Women, among othernational offices.

(Southern Region), and Ghindae
and Beareza (Northern Red SeaRegion). All of these regions are
areas where citrus fruits havetraditionally been growing.

When discussing the future plansof the project, Ms. Lidya elaborated
that the project has prepared abooklet on banana value addition
and banana-related productpreparation that will be printed
and distributed soon. She alsomentioned that they are working
to expand the project to otherMs. Lidya Teclemichaelregions of the country. Various
The technical project includes machines for banana and citrus
awareness raising and capacity- fruit value addition, currently inbuilding programs as its major shipment, are also expected topillars. Hence, the participatory reinforce the endeavor.
training programs have resulted in Finally Ms. Lidya underlined thedeveloping different value added importance of public awarenessproducts, such as banana chips, and sensitization, as well as thebanana hot sauce (keih tsebhi long-term sustainability of thebanana), banana mild sauce (alcha project.
banana), banana flour, and banana
Citrus Value Addition
bread.
Sharing objectives with theAccording to reports and feed banana project, the value addition
backs, this program is making initiative on citrus fruits is being
a positive contribution towards conducted in the sub-regions ofimproving dietary habit of Alla, Dekemhare and Mai-Aini

Capacity development programs
have been among the major
components of the project. The
training programs have focusedon producing marmalade (juice)using all citrus varieties grown infarmers’ fields.
Marmalade is processed fromoranges with and without theirpeels. According to Ms. Harena,“Since the essential oils andvitamins are found in the peelsof the citrus, it is important toinclude them.”

2According to Ms. Harena Kibrom,
National Project coordinatorof citrus value addition project,
the project grew out as a resultof the post-harvest losses andother market-related problems
experienced by citrus fruit farmers.

Ms. Harena Kibrom

She added that, so far, 386 trainees(60% of whom are females and whoinclude farmers, members of women’sassociations,administrators,
agricultural staff, and others) haveparticipated in workshops andtraining programs on citrus productdevelopment, sustainable food value
chain development, agribusinesses
and marketing.

Ms. Harena noted that theexperiences gained from the training
programs will be applied to upgrade
the capacity of young professionals
and farmers who work in citrus
production across the country. It will
also help those who plan to engage
in value addition of these fruits.
Ms. Harena added that a booklet on

citrus value addition and related
product is being prepared.
Finally, she urged for more projects
movingforward,continued
awarenessraising
campaigns,
and the establishment of farmers
cooperatives.
***

Citrus Value Addition: A demonstration in Dekemhare sub-region , Southern Region

Ministry of Agriculture along with Relevant Partners
Conducts Dietary Survey

The MoA along with other relevant
partners has launched a nutritionsensitive dietary survey anddemonstration in selected subregions of Eritrea. It is hoped thatthe project can help improve foodand nutrition security in targetedcommunities through increasing
nutrition knowledge, promoting
healthy complementary feeding
availabilityandaccesstodiversified nutrition dense foods,
encouraging good health andhygiene practices coupled withrural women’s empowerment, andstrengthening capacity of national
stakeholders.
Ms. Tsinat Berhane, Secretary ofthe project, explained that theproject is focused on beneficiariesof the Minimum Integrated
Household Agricultural Package(MIHAP). Initially, it began to assess

if MIHAP beneficiaries showed anychange in their dietary habits after
they had acquired agricultural
packages from the MoA.

Ms. Tsinat Berhane interviewing benficiaries during KAP survey

3This project began with Knowledge
Attitude Practices (KAP) survey todetermine mothers’ knowledge
and care practices regarding infant
and young child feeding in theAnseba Region (in Geleb, Habero,Muhabesh and Musha) and in theCentral Region (in Laugien andLamza).
Following the KAP survey, atrial to improve maternal andchild nutrition practices wasimplemented by a technicalworking group, which included
the MoA, the Ministry of Health,the Ministry of Marine Resources,
the Ministry of Trade and Industry,the Eritrean Standards Institution,and various other groups andindividuals.

Moreover, a workshop focusedon maternal infants and young
children nutrition concepts andprinciples was carried out. During
the course of the workshop
demonstrations
The trial was conducted as part importantof a technical cooperation project were conducted to enhance thebetween the MoA and FAO. Inter practical knowledge in identifying
alia, it aimed to: assess food nutrition dense foods.
availability and feeding habits of Ms. Tsinat noted that after
the selected families; improve the conclusion of the training
complementary feeding practices; and workshop programs, anpromote consumption of nutrition assessment with regards todense food; addressgaps in nutrition at household level, inpoor maternal and child feeding terms of availability, accessibility
habits; and develop sound and family practices was conducted
recommendations.

with in the MIHAP beneficiaries.
Based on the outcomes of theassessment, counseling programs
were arranged to address
identified gaps on complementary
feeding and hygiene at groupand family levels. As part of thecounseling programs, farmers
were advised to use some partof their land to cultivate nutrition
dense foods, such as pumpkins,beans, and flaxseeds.
Last, Ms. Tsinat explained thatfood demonstrations helped
beneficiaries to identify andproperly utilize food. For instance,beneficiary families learned thatbeans could be prepared in theform of mild/white sauce (alcha)
or included in salads and soups.
Similarly, demonstrations showedthat flaxseed could be used withtea, bread, and cakes, and that
pumpkins could be used formaking juice, bread, cake, andmarmalade.
***Editor-In-Chief
Ermias Solomon, Director of Public Relations Division
Email:- ersohab@gmail.com, Tel: 182225/ 07143877/ 07182662, Asmara, Eritrea
Editorial Board
Filmawit Measho, Hara Weldetnsae, Shushan Okbay
Photo credit: Aradom Bereket, Habteab Andemariam, Thomas Mehari, MoA Photo Archives

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