The government of Djibouti is harvesting 60,000ql of wheat from its farm in Western Arsi around Serofta, in the Oromia Regional State. The tiny nation, which is Ethiopia’s gateway to the sea, had been granted 3,000ht of prime land in June 2009, where it started growing wheat immediately.

This land used to be part of the Bale Agricultural Development Enterprise, a state enterprise supervised by the Privatisation and Public Enterprises Supervisory Agency (PPESA). The land given to Djibouti, free of any payment, was transferred from the enterprise by the order of the PPESA in June 2009. It was in keeping with a promise the government made during a visit of President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti and his wife to Ethiopia in July 2008, which included a meeting with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

• SOURCE: ADDIS FORTUNE