Launched in April 2025 for a five-year period, the MAHEBER programme — funded by the European Union with €6 million and implemented by COLEAD — supports the Ethiopian horticultural sector, with direct support to fruit and vegetables and indirect support to flowers. A little over a year after its start, the programme has completed the key steps of its operationalisation and begun its first activities in the field.
Fifteen years of engagement in Ethiopia
MAHEBER builds on COLEAD's continuous presence in Ethiopia since 2011, through the successive PIP2, EDES, FFM and FFM Plus programmes. It pursues three expected results: strengthening the capacities of agribusinesses (MSMEs) and producer groups to compete on domestic, regional and international markets; improving the capacity of the Ethiopian horticultural sector's enabling environment to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of the Ethiopian origin; and addressing the bottlenecks affecting the competitiveness and sustainability of Ethiopian horticultural exports through enhanced policy dialogue and public-private collaboration.
The foundations are in place
The first year focused on setting up the programme's operations: adapting COLEAD's intervention methodology to the specific context of Ethiopia, developing online application forms for six categories of partner beneficiaries, and conducting targeted outreach to agrifood MSMEs and producer groups. The programme was officially launched in collaboration with the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) and the EAA.
First activities with key partners
Priority activities are already under way with these two partners: support to HortiCampus alongside EHPEA, and preparation for the DG SANTE audit with the EAA. In parallel, an expertise mapping exercise and active follow-up of training have been launched to expand the pool of Ethiopian service providers, in line with COLEAD's transversal tender procedures. All of these milestones serve the programme's specific objective: to build and ensure the capacity of horticulture stakeholders in Ethiopia.
This activity is implemented by COLEAD and supported by the MAHEBER Program (Mobilizing Actors in Horticulture for Entrepreneurship and Boosting Ethiopian Resilience), funded by the European Union through the EU Delegation in Ethiopia. This communication has been produced with the financial support of the EU. Its contents are the sole responsibility of COLEAD and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the EU.