In Ethiopia, UNIDO is supporting the development of four integrated agro-industrial parks (IAIPs). They are home to numerous companies, including many food processing firms. Dutch company, Tradin Organic, established the Sunvado factory in 2018 to process premium organic avocado oil at the Yirgalem IAIP. Before the establishment of the IAIP, most avocados fetched low prices at local markets. When Sunvado began operations, it offered farmers a higher price for their avocados. This had positive impacts local growers and their communities. The oil from the avocados is exported to markets such as Japan, the Netherlands and North America. Working together with the avocado farmer cooperatives, Sunvado employs field extension workers to support the supply chain. The company deployed 26 professionals to provide extension services to help farmers meet specifications. The company also distributed 24 motorbikes to support transport logistics and 24 smartphones to upload harvest data in real-time to a database at the IAIP.
The company established an organic monitoring system, helping secure organic certification in 2019. Approximately 81 avocado fruit collection centers - 22 multipurpose and 51 fruit & vegetable cooperatives - were established and 78,000 smallholder farmers, 22 per cent of them women, from seven districts are presently supplying produce to the Sunvado factory. Sunvado also established two avocado seedling nursery sites, owned by smallholder farmers, to introduce improved varieties. The new varieties significantly reduce the preproduction period of avocado trees to satisfy future demand. To further improve quality, the company is working with Hawassa University to introduce additional improved varieties and further research and development services.
