The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) has announced the provision of a new marketing window for the agro-processing industry. The new service was inaugurated by Minister for Trade and Industry, Melaku Alebel. 16 processors registered with the Ministry have entered the trading system.
Soybean production is the main produce being covered by the special window service and the processors have been given training in the legal and technological aspects of the new market. With this, traders are going to be able to buy goods through an electronic platform.
In the preliminary trading that ECX conducted from the 4th to the 26th of November, 26,455 quintals out of the 141,857 quintals supplied to the processors. The exchange expects more industries to join the market soon; ginger beans and white pigeons have already been added to the trading system raising the number of items to 12.
According to ECX adding more industries to the trading system is expected to fetch better prices for products and increase the bargaining power of farmers. Experts identify such developments, coupled with Ethiopia’s agriculturally conducive ecosystems, as crucial for bringing the country’s industries to the modern trading sphere.
ECX plans on trading 784,000 tons of produce during the current fiscal year which the company says it is on track to meet based on an analysis of numbers from the first quarter.
The company is also undertaking endeavors to fulfill its social and national responsibilities like filling the gap in the oilseed trading market due to the ongoing conflict in the Tigray region. Oilseed trade is one of the main sources of foreign currency for Ethiopia. Three oilseed crops (soybeans, sesame seeds, and niger seeds) account for 20 percent of the nation’s agricultural export earnings, second only to coffee.
Capital Ethiopia, The Reporter