Sub-Saharan Informer, April 27, 2007

Ethiopia to brand home gardens produce
By Arefayne Fantahun

Ethiopia has begun preparations to give indications of organs and brand names for ten home garden products and goods.
Around one hundred agricultural products are under consideration and ten of them will be selected and labeled by October 2007.
It is part of a project working to establish institutional, legal and promotional structures for geographical indications and quality marks for the country's localized products such as coffee, condiments, butter, spices, oil, food and beverages.
Well-known geographical indications like Champagne, Cognac, Swiss watches, Parmagianno-Regianno and Cuban cigars attest to the value and effectiveness of geographical indications in promoting the sale and export of agricultural goods from particular regions.
Geographical indication is a tool recommended by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to identify a good as originating in the territory of a WTO member where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.
A panel of international experts drawn from French Institut de Recherche pour le Développement and the Addis Ababa University are involved in the activity.
"But it is the traditional know-how, expertise of local communities and their long-standing ties with nature that is being used principally," Bernard Roussel, an ethno-botanist, professor at the National Museum of Natural History of Paris told a conference organized here under the theme, 'Enhancing the value of Ethiopian Local Specialties'. "It will be on voluntary participation and the society can benefit from geographical indications", he added.
Explaining the agro-biodiversity found in home gardens, Professor Roussel said that, "Each society has invented its own particular model, perfectly in harmony with cultural representation and with its need in terms of both food and source of income. Original local specialties of exceptional quality have been produced in the home gardens of Ethiopia'.
It is said that indications of origin or brand names enhance the horticultural production through the use of an effective corporate and promotional tool.
Yigzaw Ayalew, Project manager at Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) told SSI that the sites envisaged to be studied by the project are located in the Amhara, Oromia and Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region states.
Ethio-French Home Garden Project is a four-year project financed by the French Global Environment Facility, coordinated by the Environmental Protection Authority and executed by French Development Agency. It is expected to be finalized in 2010.
A house of Ethiopian Terroir Produce is to be opened in Addis Ababa, which will serve as a showcase and informative documentation center for the selected Ethiopian specialties.
An inventory and description of Ethiopian specialties produced in home gardens will be made in addition to the setting up of a legal and corporate system that aims to develop the horticultural heritage of home gardens while preserving their agro biodiversity through the promotion of their local products.