More than two million jerrycans containing palm oil have been confiscated in a raid at place called Jemo Michael in Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
EBC reported that the hoarded palm oil was seized on account of tips the federal police had got from the public and through joint efforts with the Lafto Sub City Administration.
The price of cooking oil in Addis Ababa has seen 20-30 percent increase over the past three months.
It is not clear what the police is going to do with the confiscated palm oil.
According to Ethiopia’s Central Statistics Agency, the country has annual potential of producing more than 784,809 tonnes of oil seeds per year.
However, Ethiopia is importing more than 350 million metric tons of subsidized palm oil per annum mainly due to challenges in the oil value chain in the country.
Most of the Oil seeds in the country are produced in subsistence farming for local consumption. The poor market linkage of farmer with oil processing companies is believed to have led to unreliable oil-seed supply for processors.
