HOLETA (Ethiopia), Dec 16: The smell of flowers is displacing the aroma of coffee as a driving force in the Ethiopian economy.

Booming floriculture is set to upstage decades-old coffee production as the top foreign exchange earner, with projected revenue looking rosy.

Boosted by government incentives and favourable market conditions, horticulture producers are targeting earnings of $1.4 billion within five years, more than Ethiopia’s total exports in 2006.

The country expects to earn more than $125 million from flower exports in 2007, a five-fold increase on the 2006 figure.

The coffee sector exported around 176,000 tonnes of produce, earning 421 million dollars last year, according to official estimates.

“By developing 70,000 hectares of land for vegetables and fruits, as well as another 4,500 for flowers, we can anticipate a major increase in production,” said Tsegaye Abebe, the head of the Ethiopia Horticultural Producers and Exporters Association.—AFP