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Showcasing AICCRA supported innovations to Ethiopia’s Prime Minister at Agri-Expo 2023

Earlier in May, Ethiopian Prime Minister H.E. Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali toured the booths at the Agriculture and Science Exhibition, Agri-Expo 2023, after its official opening in the presence of top government officials.

AICCRA Ethiopia-supported digital innovation, Lersha, as the leading digital platform for farmers in Ethiopia, was presented to the premier. 

The science and agriculture exhibition is organized by Ethiopia's Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with stakeholders. This year, it was held under the theme “From Farm to Laboratory” this year at the National Science Museum in Addis Ababa.

Attendees include farmers, pastoralists, youth, researchers, investors and key sector representatives there to connect and network on the role of science and technology in Ethiopia's agricultural sector.

AICCRA at Agri-Expo

AICCRA-supported innovations were among those being displayed and presented during the 2023 exhibition, including:

  • Lersha, a 'one-stop' user-centric bundle of digital ag-advisories, inputs, mechanization, and credit services that is helping to transform food systems in Ethiopia.
  • Ethiopian Digital AgroClimate Advisory Platform (EDACaP),  a digital web platform supporting a national agriculture data hub, agricultural advisory services and early warning systems for early action. The tool is jointly enabled by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, AICCRA and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society.
  • Agricultural Stress Index System (ASIS), a tool for agricultural drought monitoring and prediction.
  • SIMAGRI, a tool developed in close collaboration with CGIAR through CCAFS, EIAR, EMI, CIMMYT and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, that enables users (for example, extension officers) to explore different “what-if” scenarios with various inputs to estimate yield and determine optimal management practices using both historical information and climate projections. It also uniquely allows the costing ("enterprise budgeting") of these scenarios to understand the profitability of different choices and promote farming as a business.

Showcasing innovation to the Prime Minister

During the tour, AICCRA Ethiopia partners in the private and public sector presented Lersha and its impact as an example of a digital, climate-smart innovation that is scaling access and effective use of climate data for Ethiopia’s farmers.

Lersha founder and AICCRA Ethiopia national partner, Abrhame Endrias, with Ethiopia's Prime Minister H.E. Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali at AgriExpo 2023 at the Ethiopian Museum of Art and Science.
In recent years, Ethiopia has been hard hit by droughts in the Greater Horn of Africa region, with millions left vulnerable. Making innovative tools like Lersha and EDACaP available and accessible to agricultural networks will help more farmers plan, adapt and be resilient in the face of climate change.

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) President, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, was also in attendance at Agri-Expo 2023 and heard from Abrhame on Lersha's reach and impact

For more information about AICCRA's work in Ethiopia, contact Brook Makonnen at brook.tesfaye@cgiar.org