BY ABEBE WOLDEGIORS
Agriculture is the mainstay of Ethiopia’s economy but its subsistence nature, the traditional way of farming, poor application of inputs and vulnerability to drought hindered the growth of the sector. This forces Ethiopian farmers to live from hand to mouth. Hence, it requires a lot of input in terms of policy and strategy and other instruments to transform the sector.
During the implementation of GTP II, the government aspired to modernize the small scale farming via promoting irrigation farm in selected crops and to produce three times a year. Currently, the government has come up with a program to substitute a significant portion of wheat imports.
Dr Daniel Muleta is working at the Ministry of Agriculture as wheat irrigation project coordinator. He told The Ethiopian Herald that winter wheat irrigation projects which are well underway in 12 and 21 woredas of Amhara and Oromia regional states respectively are expected to significantly substitute imports.
In the highland parts of the country, in areas where irrigable water is available, the project will be implemented after the rainy season production is harvested.
He further said that most farmers who are participating in the program from Oromia and Amhara regions are smallholder farmers. The major objective of the irrigation project is to encourage farmers to engage in wheat production during winter.
To that end, the government is supplying seed freely to the farmers. Farmers also obtained other inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides via credit from farmer’s association and unions.
In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency, is providing technical support through extension service to the farmers.
Currently the nation imports 17 million quintals of wheat and considering the abundant potential it has for wheat production, this is totally unacceptable. This makes it timely to introduce wheat production through the application of irrigation timely.
According to the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency wheat is among the most important food grains are grown in Ethiopia, both as a source of food for consumers and as a source of income for farmers. Wheat and wheat products represent 14 percent of the total caloric intake in Ethiopia, making wheat the second-most consumed commodity, behind maize which is19 percent and ahead of teff, sorghum, and enset up to10-12 percent each. Wheat is also the fourth most widely grown crop in terms of area of cultivation after teff, maize, and sorghum, and is ranked 4th/5th in gross production volume, after teff, enset, and maize.
The Central Statistical Agency also estimates, the total number of farmers who cultivate wheat declined by 3.0%, mostly in recent years, while the total cultivated area grew by 0.7% between 2014/2015 and 2017/2018. Yield also grew by 2.5%, resulting in a 3.1% growth in wheat production. The marketable surplus is typically just about 19% of total production volume, indicating the growing consumption of the crop.
In the other aspect of the economy, wheat plays a crucial role in creating market linkage between agriculture and manufacturing. Currently various manufacturing industries utilize wheat as inputs for Macaroni, Pasta, flour and breads production and created job opportunities for thousands of citizens.
Similar to wheat, Ethiopia imports edible oils spending millions of USD from abroad. Paradoxically, there are various crops growing in Ethiopia which can be used as inputs for edible oil manufacturing industries such as sunflower, nigger, and sesame. Unfortunately, these crops are exported in the raw form without value addition. Producing edible oil locally can save the meager hard currency and substitute imported products.
The opening of the recent edible oil factory in Amhara region by a local investor can be taken as a milestone for value addition on local products and import substitution. Farmers in the local areas can supply their products to the industry at a fair price. The industry also created job opportunity for thousands and in the long run, it is aspiring to export its products to the neighboring nations.
On the other hand, the labour-intensive industry which can create a job for tens of thousands of citizens is the textile industry. But, currently, the nation imports cotton spending its scarce hard currency.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the local cotton species of cotton is weak to resist pests and its productivity is very low. Hence, to overcome the problem, the Ethiopian Agriculture Research Institute is conducting an experiment on BT cotton in the field and a better outcome is expected. When the supply of high breed cotton species to farmers begins, it would be able to substitute the importation of cotton.
The government is also facilitating financial access from banks in order to encourage private investors to engage in crop production. So far, a number of investors engaged in the prediction of vegetables and fruits in the areas adjacent to the Ethio-Djibouti railway in the central highlands of the country. The introduction of cargo trains equipped with refrigerator enables the packed fruits to reach the port of Djibouti fresh.
In the future, the government will continue its due support to farmers to expand mechanized farming. Regional administrations are also expected to play their part in this regard.
But as to Daniel, the main purpose of the project is introducing wheat production through irrigation all over the country.
As to Daniel, the nation has the potential not only to substitute but also to export wheat.
Vast land suitable for wheat production is available both in highland and lowland areas of the country.
Currently, 30 quintals of wheat is produced using rain-fed agriculture and the introduction of irrigation during the dry season is expected to increase the production per hectares to 50 quintals.
The Ethiopian Herald January 23/2021
