The Sidama Region of Ethiopia has taken a significant step toward modernizing agriculture and expanding job opportunities with the launch of the AgriConnect Digital Agri-Business Hub and the Sidama Agricultural Innovation Exhibition 2025 in Hawassa. The initiative brings together government leaders, the ILO, development partners, private-sector actors, youth and women entrepreneurs, and research institutions to strengthen market access, boost productivity, promote technology adoption, and accelerate job creation across key agribusiness value chains. The Hub provides a coordinated, digital, and innovation-driven ecosystem to support farmers, SMEs, cooperatives, and service providers.
AgriConnect offers real-time market information, digital advisory services, technical support, and business development resources, linking producers to buyers, input suppliers, and research institutions. The Hub focuses on key value chains including poultry, horticulture, and avocado, and aims to enhance productivity, competitiveness, and decent work opportunities across the region’s agribusiness sector. Regional leaders highlighted the transformative potential of the Hub in modernizing agriculture, improving market access, and expanding opportunities for farmers and agripreneurs.
The Sidama Agricultural Innovation Exhibition 2025 showcased more than 25 innovators, agritech firms, SMEs, cooperatives, universities, research institutes, and financial institutions. Exhibits included water-saving irrigation systems, digital advisory tools, improved seedlings, poultry innovations, post-harvest management solutions, and market linkage models. The event provided a platform for farmers, youth-led and women-led enterprises, and private-sector innovators to connect, demonstrating practical ways to accelerate the adoption of promising agricultural technologies.
AgriConnect addresses gaps identified in an ILO-led entrepreneurship ecosystem assessment in Sidama, such as fragmented market linkages, limited financial access, low technology uptake, and high input costs. By uniting these services under one platform, the Hub strengthens agribusiness competitiveness, supports sustainable enterprise growth, and creates new roles for technicians, drone operators, service providers, and agritech entrepreneurs, providing youth with dignified pathways into the economy.
High-level officials and development partners conducted field visits to youth-led agribusiness groups in Yirgalem, observing firsthand how access to improved technologies, advisory services, and market linkages through the ProAgro project supports early-stage businesses. These visits demonstrated how digital tools and coordinated ecosystem support help young entrepreneurs expand production, reduce losses, and create sustainable jobs. The launch of the Digital Agri-Business Hub marks a major step in scaling impact, strengthening value chains, and fostering a more inclusive, technology-driven future for agriculture in the Sidama Region.
