Ambassador O’Hara signed an agreement with USAID

During a ceremony held at the Sheraton Addis Hotel on the 9th of July 2014 the Ambassador of Ireland to Ethiopia, Aidan O’Hara, announced a new collaboration with USAID to facilitate the growth of the dairy sector in Ethiopia.

Through its Private Sector Innovation Fund, Irish Aid Ethiopia will allocate €200,000 towards the Dairy Innovation Fund to finance projects that work on the design, demonstration and field-testing of technologies and business models that can demonstrate high potential for increasing the commercialisation of milk products. Entrepreneurs with innovative ideas can apply for grants ranging from €20,000 to €50,000, depending on the expected impact on the sector. The overall goal of this new initiative is to help transform the Ethiopian dairy sector in order to fully realise its considerable potential and create sustainable jobs.

According to Ambassador Aidan O’Hara “Ireland is on a mission to become a world leader in sustainably produced food. We export to 175 countries worldwide and we hope that through our collaboration with USAID, the Dairy Innovation Fund will allow Ethiopian farmers and consumers to benefit from the latest techniques and technologies.”

The Irish Aid contribution will be provided through USAID’s Ethiopia Sustainable Agribusiness Incubator (ESAI), managed by Precise Consult International and part of the US Feed the Future Initiative. ESAI’s objective is to transform Ethiopian agriculture sector-by-sector by enhancing the competitiveness in the dairy, honey, and sesame value chains.‌