Potential for biochar production in Sidama

04.10.2023

ETH-Soil project manager Kerstin Wilde met with members of an agricultural cooperative on her trip to Sidama Region in Ethiopia and discussed soil acidification. Alongside large quantities of avocados, the cooperatives also produces coffee and other crops in organic agroforestry. The cooperative members were thrilled to learn that avocado kernels could be processed into biochar and used for soil amelioration. The meeting and discussion was effectively facilitated by Tafesech Bolka (GIZ, Agricultural advisor on rural value chains) and Petros Markos (Yirgalem agro-industrial park) with advisors from the Sidama Bureau of Agriculture (BoA).

Dr. Getachew Eshete Beyene, project staff in Ethiopia, and Kerstin Wilde also met Karissa Shora and Fikreyesus Ashenafi, Sidama BoA. They were more than happy to learn that steps had been taken to clarify and expand the region’s access to laboratory facilities at Hawassa Agricultural Research Centre.

The DBFZ team also used the visit to Sidama to see the vermicompost production at Wondo Genet Agricultural Research Centre (EIAR). Ashenafi Nigussie and Henok Tesfaye kindly explained the facilities, processes and plans for further expansion.

Lastly, they also met with Prof. Fantaw Yimer, Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, and were kindly welcomed by the Dean, Samuel Bekele Gujo. At this site, experimentation with biochar had started in Ethiopia. In the framework of Ethiopian-German development cooperation, the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources evaluated the potential for biochar production and use in Ethiopia already in 2017.