The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) and Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) organized a national Workshop on Enset Research and Development on 19-20 August 2010 at Welkite. The Workshop was meant to examine what is going on the overall production-cum-consumption of enset in the country. The major focus was to make sure the danger posed by bacterial wilt on the plant which is at the moment on a devastating scale is controllable effectively.

Workshop participants drawn from various governmental R&D institutions, agricultural and rural development bureaus, NGOs, farming communities and processing industries were welcomed by Dr Solomon Asefa, Director General of EIAR. The Workshop was opened by HE Dr Abera Deressa, State Minister of MoARD, who urged participants to enhance their enthuse to better handle the issues around enset. This was followed by a keynote address by HE Ato Tefera Deribew, Minister of MoARD. In his distinguished address the Minister stressed on the role of enset in the country’s economy and the need to enhance its representation beyond its role as food. In his remark the Minister also noted participants to be vigilant in the coming five–year national development and transformation plan of the country.

As part of the Workshop, parallel session of enset products hibitions on bacterial wilt tolerant enset varieties, enset processing equipment, and publications was held. Several presentations were also made and discussed accordingly. Presentations include areas like: research and development activities on enset bacterial wilt, entomological and vertebrate pests management research on enset, enset processing, technology dissemination, enset fiber utilization, and gender differentiation on enset.

 A general discussion session was also arranged to capture relevant points to formulate a functional national action plan on enset research and development.