Efforts are underway to enable Ethiopia to supply bananas to the world market for the first time, according to an Ethiopian investor engaged in banana cultivation.
Investor Gebrekerstos Gad said that his company is undertaking various activities to improve the quality of the fruit.
He said: “We have already started quality-improving activities through the application of tissue culture, [agricultural practice used to propagate plants under germ-free conditions] to get our own quality banana varieties.”
Gad’s company has experience in the banana category, having worked with the crop in Cameroon. He plans to start banana exports next year and expressed hope that the country’s newly established vegetable and fruit agency would be helpful in this regard.
Ethiopia produces more than 200,000 tonnes of bananas a year.
