A federal regulatory agency with authority to issue permits for importers and distributors of agricultural inputs is in the making.

Last week, a draft regulation for establishing the Ethiopian Agriculture Authority (EAA) was sent to the Ministry of Planning & Development. Part of the Authority's mandate will involve overseeing the provision of fertiliser and seeds. These inputs have mainly been out of the private sector's reach as the supply chain remains in the hands of the state and public enterprises. However, private businesses' role in importing and distributing agrochemicals, such as pesticides, is relatively robust.

Since the state subsidy and monopoly over pesticide distribution ended in 1995, the private sector has been getting its piece of the pie. There were 24 agrochemical importers a decade ago, compared to 133 this year.

Issuing certificates of competence and registration of importers and distributors of agrochemicals has thus far been delegated to the Agricultural Inputs Marketing Directorate at the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Ministry is among the federal agencies that are going through a restructuring after the formation of the current administration in September 2021.

Over the coming decade, the Ministry, led by Oumer Hussien, is tasked with boosting the productivity of the agricultural sector. Its officials expect the sector's value to increase by 6.5pc annually while they hope to see agricultural productivity double from an average of 36 quintals a hectare.

“Once the Authority is established, there'll be better monitoring and control systems,” said Mekdes Nega, head of the directorate.

People who follow the development believe the separation of the regulatory body from the Ministry serves two advantages. It allows the Ministry to focus on policy implementation rather than being bogged down with cumbersome registration and licensing duties, according to Esayas Lemma, director of crop development at the Ministry. It will also give the agency a regulatory capacity.

Ethiopia imports 40,000tn of agrochemicals such as insecticides (70pc), herbicides (25pc) and fungicides annually. Adami Tulu Chemical Company is the sole domestic producer of agrochemicals. Incorporated in 1998 with a capital of 40.5 million Br, the company imports active ingredients and solvents to produce pesticides. Last year, the company produced 440tn of pesticides.

The floriculture industry has been importing chemicals without import permits since 2017.

The imported and locally-produced agrochemicals only cover close to half of the demand from 18 million smallholder farmers, who harvest 22.8 million hectares of land. In the last Mehir harvest season, 6.9 million small scale farmers used agrochemicals on 4.5 million hectares of cultivated land.

Industry players say the low volume of agrochemical imports is partly due to extensive bureaucracy facing importers.

Agrochemical importers must hold a certificate of competency to import pesticides and submit documents from their suppliers describing the different characteristics of the chemicals. Shipments are subjected to laboratory tests upon arrival, and the samples are sent to research institutions and universities for testing.

“It's a tiresome process,” said Beshir Hassen, Awowo Import & Export Plc general manager.

His company used to import agrochemicals and distribute them to unions but stopped importing two years ago due to the hassle he faced. There is a cumbersome bureaucracy to issue certificates of competency or licensing importers, handled by a small group of staff at the Ministry, according to Medemdemiaw Neknekie, a senior expert in crop development at the Ministry.

“Once the Authority is established, it will expand to the directorate level," said Medemdemiaw, also one of the experts who drafted the regulation.