Establishment of EABC

The Ethiopian Agricultural Businesses Corporation (EABC) was established in December 2015 as a federal government public enterprise under Council of Ministers Regulation No. 368/2015, with an authorized capital of 2.44 billion birr.

The Corporation, governed by the Public Enterprises Proclamation No. 25/1992, was formed through the merger of five-state owned Enterprises; namely Ethiopian Seed Enterprise, Agricultural Inputs Supply Enterprise, Agricultural Equipment and Technical Services Share Company, Agricultural Mechanization Service Enterprise, and Natural Gum Processing and Marketing Enterprises.

Currently, the Corporation, which has several branch offices and six improved seed multiplication farms for various crops in different regions, is accountable to Ethiopian Investment Holdings and is also governed by a board of directors that supervises and controls the operations and business of the EABC as well.At present, EABC is playing its part in the implementation of the 10- year master plan for the agricultural sector at a national level. Based on this, it carries out agricultural activities ranging from land preparation to warehouse by providing integrated services through a single window, including agricultural inputs and mechanization services. In this regard, the Corporation supplies:

• Improved Seeds
• Solid and Foliar Fertilizers
• Agrochemicals and
• Veterinary Drugs to customers at affordable prices.

And also, the Corporation is striving to achieve its mission by rendering the following services:

• Agricultural Machineries with Original Spare Parts and Implements
• Construction Equipment
• Chemical and Fertilizer Spraying Machines
• Land development
• Agricultural Mechanization
• Seed Cleaning
• Repair Services for Agricultural and Construction Equipment
• Rental Services for Agricultural Machinery and Transport Vehicles (heavy goods transportation)
• Maintenance, Consulting, Technical/Vocational Training at the head office and its branches, along with after-sales services.

Additionally, Assembling Agricultural Equipment is also listed among the Corporation’s duties and responsibilities.

Furthermore, EABC is mandated to harvest, purchase, add value to, and process natural gum (GUM Arabic), as well as produce other forest products such as Gum Olibanum, Gum Myrrh & Gum Opoponax, supplying them to both domestic and international markets.
Since its establishment, the Corporation has achieved remarkable success in the agricultural sector. Building on these promising results, EABC has continued to play a vital role in modernizing agriculture, boosting production and productivity.
As a testament to its progress, the Corporation successfully met its authorized capital within a five-year period and a significant milestone that highlights its achievements in recent years. Its capital has now reached 7.564 billion birr.
Overall, the Corporation is making significant contributions to modernizing agricultural practices and enhancing productivity through integrated agricultural development activities, from land preparation to warehouse.   And also by implementing the ISO 9001:2015 quality management system, the Corporation has achieved significant and encouraging results.

Purposes of establishment

The purposes for which the Corporation is established are:

1. to buy from domestic and international markets and supply agricultural inputs; undertake agricultural inputs market price stabilization activities;
2. to render agricultural mechanization services, agricultural and construction equipment repair services and provide rental services of agricultural machineries and transport vehicles;
3. to buy from domestic and international markets and supply agricultural machineries and spare parts, construction equipment and agro-chemicals;
4. to provide necessary education for the promotion of the use of modern agricultural machineries; provide consultancy service in handling and use of agricultural machineries and provide on the job technical trainings;
5. to harvest, buy, value add to and process natural gum, produce other forest products, and supply to domestic and international markets;
6. to undertake agricultural land development studies and preparation of designs, agricultural land surveying, clearing, leveling, drainage and irrigation activities as well as other activities related to agricultural land development;
7. to cause undertaking of feasibility studies, design preparation, technology selection and negotiation, erection and commissioning of new and expansion projects as well as for research activities;
8. to cause the local designing and manufacturing of agricultural machineries and spare parts in partnership with capable local and foreign companies;
9. to work in cooperation with the concerned educational research and training institutions in producing trained manpower in such fields, numbers and quality as required by the sector;
10. to undertake studies, based on direction given to it by the Ethiopian Investment Holdings, for the acquisition of financial, technological and modern governance inputs (including attracting investments or participating in investments) that can help it to become competitive, both locally and globally, and profitable and implement same upon approval;
11. to multiply, clean and process pre-basic, basic and certified seeds of various crops, vegetables and fruits; where necessary import pre-basic seeds and cause their production or sale them; to sell byproducts;
12. to undertake research and implement improvements with respect to the supply of agricultural inputs, agricultural machineries repair, the production and marketing of natural gum, mechanization services and related matters and thereby ensure its competitiveness;
13. to sell bonds, collateralize, negotiate and sign loan agreements with local and foreign sources in accordance with directives issued by the Ministry of Finance and on the basis of the guidance of Ethiopian Investment Holdings;
14. to engage in other related activities for the attainment of its purposes.

EABC’s mission, vision & values

Mission

Provide agricultural inputs and technologies that can significantly improve production and productivity, enhance modern farms and agro-industries at very competitive price to accelerate the nation’s economic development.

Vision

By providing integrated agricultural inputs and mechanization service, to become a strong competitor in Africa by 2030.

Values

• Loyalty
• Transparency
• Sincerity
• Commitment
• Mutual benefit
• Social responsibility

The products and services of EABC

Products

Improved seeds: EABC multiplies and supplies 22 crop species and 90 varieties to farmers, semi-pastoralists, investors and institutions.

Forest products: The Corporation offers forest products, including natural gum (GUM Arabic), Gum Olibanum, Gum Myrrh & Gum Opoponax for both local and international markets.

Fertilizers: EABC imports and distributes solid and liquid (including foliar) fertilizers to customers.

Agrochemicals and Chemical spraying equipment: The Corporation supplies herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, disinfectants and chemical spraying equipment.

Agricultural equipment, construction machinery and spare parts: The Company provides reliable and modern agricultural machinery and spare parts such as tractors, combine harvesters, furrowers, disc plows, tyres, inner tubes, batteries, filters, copper wires etc. It also offers construction machinery.

Services

• Integrated Agricultural Mechanization
• Land Development
• Seed Cleaning
• Maintenance Services for Farm Equipment, Trucks, Vehicles, and more
• Sales and Rental Services for Farm Equipment and Construction Machinery
• Heavy  Goods  Transport  Rental  Services
• Consultancy, Technical Training and Maintenance services to its customers along with after-sales services.

Human resource

The corporation currently employs a total of 1,635 staff members, comprising 1,363 permanent employees and 272 are contract workers.

Organizational Structure

EABC is mainly organized into four sectors:                      

1. Agricultural Input Product and Supply Main Sector
2. Agricultural Machineries and Products Supply Main Sector
3. Resource Management Sector
4. Chief Financial Office

These sectors are accountable to the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation. Additionally, the structure includes five business units at the head office as well as several branch offices and stations located in various regions of the country, all operating under the main sectors. There are also 14 support units with distinct functions within the organization.