Making irrigation technology more affordable in Ethiopia

“We will give due attention to the agricultural sector to bring about a fundamental change, to convert our deserts into paradise and to increase product and productivity by implementing irrigation works extensively and in a coordinated manner, by investing intensively in pastoralist and semi-pastoralist areas and developing regions.”

These were the words spoken by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at Millennium Hall on April 16th 2018, right after he took office. In this important speech to the nation, he targeted irrigation as a major development intervention for the country.

In May of 2019, the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance (MoF) signed an historic tax reform bill that is slated to remove almost all duty tax on irrigation, mechanization and animal feed equipment and technologies. This decision was brought about, in part, by a collaboration between the…