to PPESA, 14 enterprises were privatised in 2007 in sectors such as tourism, mining, industry and agro-industry, bringing the total number of public enterprises privatised to 2,471. Eight of these enterprises were privatised through equity sales and the remainder through joint ventures. Enterprises slated for privatisation in 2007/08 include Addis Ababa Yarn Share Company, Combolcha Textile Company, Yerer Flour Mill, and Ethiopian Plywood Company. PPESA is also implementing a Corporate Reform Programme for Public Enterprises aimed at strengthening corporate governance and management standards in public enterprises. Small and micro-enterprise promotion is also critical to private sector development. Government has been providing support to such enterprises in areas such as training, business skill development, micro-credit, information and marketing. Agriculture and agro-based industrialisation 324 Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy in Ethiopia, accounting for 46.3 percent of the GDP, 83.9 percent of exports, and 80 percent of the labour force. Many other economic activities depend on agriculture, including marketing, processing, and agricultural produce exports. Production is overwhelmingly of a subsistence nature and a large share of commodity exports come from the small agricultural cash-crop sector. Principal crops include coffee, pulses (e.g. beans), oilseeds, cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, and vegetables. Exports are almost entirely agricultural commodities and coffee is the largest foreign exchange earner. Ethiopia is Africa’s second biggest maize producer. Ethiopia’s livestock population is believed to be the largest in Africa and in 2006/2007, livestock accounted for 10.6 percent of Ethiopia’s export income, with leather and leather products making up 7.5 percent, and live animals 3.1 percent. 325 Although it is the mainstay, agricultural productivity in Ethiopia has failed to satisfy the population’s food security needs over the last few decades. Ethiopia’s agriculture is plagued by periodic drought, soil degradation caused by overgrazing, deforestation, high population density, high levels of taxation and poor infrastructure (making it difficult and expensive to get goods to market). Yet agriculture is the country’s most promising resource. There is potential for selfsufficiency in grains and for export development in livestock, grains, vegetables, and fruits. As many as 4.6 million people need food assistance annually. Accordingly, the government is striving to modernise agriculture to achieve the national goal of attaining food security. 326 Government’s agricultural development-led industrialisation strategy focuses on two key technologies: information and communications technology, and biotechnology. The strategy considers these technologies essential to rapidly transform the agrarian economy from a largely subsistence mode of production to market-oriented production enterprises, ultimately leading to industrialisation. - 138 -