Korea Program on International Agriculture in Ethiopia
Ethiopia KOPIA Center
For the last 50 years, Korea has experienced dramatic and unprecedented transformation in the agricultural sector. In particular, the agricultural development has been driven by revolutionary technological advancement which set the once war-torn nation free from chronic famine and food shortage.
To efficiently share the experiences and knowledge with neighboring countries, the Rural Development Administration (RDA) of the Republic of Korea launched the Korea Program on International Agriculture (KOPIA) in 2009.
RDA has established twenty KOPIA Centers operating in partner countries in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa to deal with local and regional issues.
KOPIA pursues sustainable development and mutual benefit between the Republic of Korea and its partner countries through the innovative cooperation in agricultural technology.
Mission
· To develop locally-adaptable technologies and seeds by sharing knowledge and experience with partner countries
· To disseminate the localized technologies and practices to local farmers Technical cooperative
· To build better research capacity through exchange programs for scientist and experts
Strategies
· The KOPIA Ethiopia center will develop localized technologies through the adaptability test of Korean technologies in the agricultural fields.
· Carry out small pilot projects at the farmer’s field to conduct the adaptability test and provide customized technologies to the farmers through demonstration trials.
· Advance the projects at the national level to contribute to the development of agriculture with partner countries and share technologies to other KOPIA Centers.
KOPIA programs consist of cooperative projects, workshops, and training identified based on needs assessment of each partner country. KOPIA and partner countries discuss, evaluate, develop, and execute projects through series of consultations and workshops. The projects are carried out by the KOPIA Center Directors, the experts dispatched from the RDA, and the scientists from partner institutions. The training programs for partner researchers are conducted at the RDA, Korea, while local farmers are trained at the KOPIA Centers.
In Ethiopia, KOPIA Ethiopia Center was established in July 2011 based on the Memorandum of Understanding between RDA and EIAR. It is located at Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) in Addis Ababa. The main subjects of cooperative projects are vegetable crops, seed multiplication and crop protection.