BY ABEBE WOLDEGIORGIS
Until recent times, Ethiopia was the major importer of wheat due to low capacity to meet the local demand. There was huge gap between what the nation produced and what it needs. As a result, enormous amount of hard currency was allocated for the importation of the products. According to sources, the nation imported minimum 17 million quintals of wheat annually and transported from the port to various parts of the country. But it is a good news that in the last two and three years Ethiopia has been registering tremendous result in boosting wheat production.
As it is known, the agriculture sector is rain fed and subsistence and farmers survived for centuries in hand to mouth living. But recently they began implementing the dry season wheat production through irrigation farming and successful result has been registered.
The government backed wheat cluster farming and obtained recognition and appreciations by the international institutions and partners.
Among the testifiers in the international platform, the African Development Bank President Aknwimi Adisna (PhD) is a known one.
“No one will see Ethiopia as wheat importer country even during this budget year of the country but it rather prepared to export 2.6 million metric tons of wheat to provide to its neighboring countries.” Aknwimi said. He made the statement months ago in G 7 countries summit in the presence of Development Ministers from Canada, France, European Union, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States. He further said that, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) assured him that Ethiopia will not resort to purchase wheat in the 2022/23 budget year.
According to sources of the African Development Bank, the bank is the major supporter of Ethiopia’s endeavor to be self-sufficient in wheat production. It provided Ethiopia 61000 metric ton of wheat seed which has the capacity to resist drought. Among the results of the wheat cluster farming, in 2018 the land coverage of wheat farming increased from 50 thousand hectares to 167,000 hectares by the year 2021 and by the beginning of 2022 it rose to 650,000 hectares.
“Ethiopia has set to export wheat to Kenya and Djibouti in 2023 which is an unbelievable achievement for a country characterized as aid dependent for long. This success serves as a valid example that showcases Africa’s capability to be food self- sufficient.” Adisena said.
According to the United States Agriculture Office information, in Ethiopia the wheat sector registered a tremendous achievement and enhanced its productivity. The government in the last three years provided huge support to the sector by providing extension services, irrigation development, modernizing farming through utilizing technology and other inputs. While inaugurating the 2022/23 dry season wheat production in Somali Region recently, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that wheat farming scheme in the region endeavors to boost wheat production and will divert the nation’s history of food aid recipient.
According to the Minister of Agriculture, Umer Husein, by the new budget year of Ethiopia, the Ministry planned to increase Wheat irrigation farming by making double and to cultivate 1.3 million hectares of land and to produce 52 million quintals of wheat in the dry season. It also planned to cultivate101 million quintals during the main rainy season and totally to produce 153 million quintals of wheat.
It is confirmed by Agriculture and economy professionals who visited the farming areas up to each house hold and said that in the last three years practicing wheat cultivation in the new farming areas have been developed. In addition, farming techniques are improved. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also told the members of the House of People’s Representatives that Ethiopia begins exporting wheat to the neighboring countries this year.
However, some still question that whether exporting wheat is timely or not and further expressed their anxiety that wheat production activities might be for the sake of meeting political consumption. Others argue that the cultivation ignores the farmer’s interest and the cultivation of other crops and perceived the project as a campaign work.
Others also claim that the project insists on expanding production areas of land and enhancing productivity without paying attention for better market to sell the product with good price.
Adane Tufa is an instructor at the Addis Ababa University in the Department of Agricultural Economy. He appreciated the government is doing good job in raising wheat production and productivity both in the rainy and dry seasons but he raised questions that what does the nation obtained from the surplus production of wheat, does it fulfill the local demand and ready to export to abroad. As to him, it needs study and research. But he did not deny the better achievement registered in the sector and said that, keeping on the effort is essential.
As to Adane, sustaining the achievement registered both in the dry and wet seasons of production of wheat is vital. Particularly supplying selected seeds which enhance productivity such as fertilizer, pest and herbicides to farmers in a subsidized price is essential. In addition, inculcating farmers that engaging in wheat production helps to change their way of life is of the utmost importance. In addition, the government should rigorously work to ensure tenure security of farm land and create healthy value chain to obtain feasible market to the production.
Dagnachew Lule (PhD) is Director of the Ethiopian Agricultural Commercialization Cluster.
As to him, his institution emphasizes the development of agricultural commercialization and cluster farming has brought tremendous impact on raising wheat production. He further said that, cluster farming is not simply combining small holder farmers’ land or is not established for once and terminated immediately, it rather helps to change subsistence farming in to surplus through utilizing inputs such as technology, extension services, mentoring farmers to prepare their farms on time and harvest their products on time. Ultimately farmers enable to produce surplus which helps them to engage in other production activities such as producing selected seeds, value addition or similar to fruits sector, realize exporting their products.
For instance, during the dry season of 2021/22 production year, wheat irrigation farming farmers produced 40 quintals of wheat per hectare on average. The output surpassed the previous production amount by eight percent. In some areas farmers produced 80 quintals of wheat per hectare on average.
The average product indicates the picture of the practice nationwide. As to the director, the cluster farming played pivotal role for the registered robust result. As to Dagnachew, in fact study is not conducted weather farmers are satisfied by the achieved result or not. Farmers also accept new way of farming not spontaneously rather in a gradual manner. Even professionals themselves were hesitant by raising question in how wheat is cultivated in the dry season. Some farmers also explained their feeling that the choice to cultivate what type of the crop must be left for them but gradually they changed their attitude and began to engage in the cluster farming.
He further said that in the past the areas of farm land covered by tomato and onion was smaller than the other crops but when the dry season wheat irrigation farm is experimented and brings good result, farmers showed their interest to cultivate their farms in the cluster scheme and witnessed the value of the program. In other words, cluster farming mechanism increased the size of the areas of wheat farming.
Farmers also could draw lesson that producing wheat both in the dry and wet seasons in cluster farming possible and raise their income.
As to Dagnachew, producing wheat in dry season at national level is not a political affairs rather it targets ensuring food security. As to him, last year’s excess products of wheat illegally found its way to the neighboring countries through brokers but had there be the necessary supervision put in place most of the product was supplied to the domestic market and closing the gap between demand and supply would have been realized.
The most surplus wheat producers, Ukraine and Russia, are engaged in war. Thus, had Ethiopia not been practiced dry season wheat farming, the consequence that would have been faced was unpredictable.
Therefore, not to face similar challenges, expanding cluster wheat farming in the arid areas of the country which have vast cultivable lands such as Somali and Afar regions by providing extension services is essential.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 4 NOVEMBER 2022
