Ethiopia is an agrarian nation over 80 percent of whose population depends on agriculture. The sector comprises about 46 percent of GDP, over 90 percent export and 83 percent of employment, according to the Ethiopian Pulses, Oilseeds and Spices Processors and Exporters Association. Oilseeds are among the major export items of the country.
What does nation’s oilseeds potential look like? What has been done so far to exploit the oilseed sector? What kind of agricultural technique is used to enhance produce and productivity? What are the challenges the country is facing? How much is the government supporting investors engaged in oil seed agriculture?
Ethiopia has vast land which is suitable for producing oil seeds such as sesame, mustard seed, ground nuts and sunflower. But due to lack of mechanized agriculture, the nation has not been competitive in the international market, says Biniam Girma, Agriculture Lecturer at Jimma University.
He states that oilseeds grow in Tigray, Amhara, Gambella, Benshangul Gumuz, Somali, SNNP and Oromia states. They have been serving as major export items of Ethiopia for the last several decades.
‘‘Ethiopia is blessed with both climate and topography conducive for producing oilseeds like sesame. The Ethiopian sesame is appreciated worldwide for its aroma and taste. Sesame variety which grows in Wellega, Gonder and Humera has high demand in the global market. However, as it lacks in value addition and processing, the nation has not yet gained deserved foreign currency earning compared to other countries,’’ Biniam adds.
The lecturer underlines the need of cluster farming in boosting oilseed yields and productivity .Not only that farmers should scale the task up in other agricultural endeavors too. ‘‘Cluster farming encourages group utilization of resources. It helps smallholding farmers to sell their produce with better market price. It creates an opportunity for financial support and access to production inputs. Besides, it significantly enhances produces and productivity,’’ the lecturer points out.
As to him, though the government has been striving to exploit oilseed potential through encouraging cluster farming and supporting farmers, there are still bottlenecks related to lack of finance, lack of production technology, land unavailability, weeds, insects, climate change, lack of effective research and global market fluctuation.
For his part, Western Tigray Zone, Agriculture Office Head, Teklemariam Nega says besides cluster farming, specializing on sesame varieties has increased the quality and production of sesame. He insists that 277 hectare of land was covered by sesame in 2018/19 rainy season in the zone and 1.6 million quintal sesame would be expected to be harvested. This would have increased by half million quintal compared to last year’s produce.
‘‘Humera Agricultural Research Center has been working in specialized oilseeds. Hence, we are able to get specialized sesame varieties that could resist drought and too much rain. They have also huge role in enhancing produce and productivity,’’ he notes. Modern agricultural technologies and farming techniques have also contributed towards improving produce and productivity.
He reaffirms that cluster farming has helped farmers to bump up their production, to gain deserved profit and market linkage. Scaling up best practices and technology transfer will have pivotal role in further transforming on oilseed agriculture, Teklemariam underscores. In addition to this, producing value-added oilseed products could make the Ethiopian oilseeds export trade more vibrant and competitive in the global market.
Though there is a significant improvement in the oilseed sector, there are still challenges. Having understood this, the government has been providing cares and incentives to address the challenges and to modernize the sector. It introduced cluster farming, new technology and specialized seeds. Thus, produce and productivity are tremendously improving quality and productivity and the farmers are gaining benefits from their industriousness.
The Ethiopian Herald, Sunday Edition October 13/2019
BY TSEGAY HAGOS
