Low Mechanization, Improved Seed Access Hamper Ethiopia’s Agricultural Productivity

As Ethiopia undertakes a revised agricultural and rural development policy after two decades, enduring challenges such as low productivity, soil acidity, and outdated farming technology continue to hinder progress.

The underwhelming performance of agricultural mechanization efforts was a major concern raised by parliamentarians during the Ministry of Agriculture's six-month performance report on Monday morning. Farmers received only 41% of the planned 2,500 tractors in the first half of the year. Currently, only around five million hectares—or just a quarter of the agricultural land cultivated during Meher, Ethiopia's main crop season—are tilled using tractors.

According to Girma Amente (PhD), the Minister of Agriculture despite no tariffs being levied on equipment for irrigation and agri-mechanization, accessibility continues to be a critical hurdle.

"Farmers can’t pay the full price for a tractor upfront," Girma noted. "We need to implement innovative financing solutions."

He acknowledged the need to create localized assembly linkages to enable the private sector to actively supply Ethiopia’s farmers.

The parliamentary session also saw spirited inquiries regarding inefficiencies in the delivery of agricultural inputs like fertilizer, improved seeds, and pesticides. Alemu Damtew, speaking on behalf of the Standing Committee for Agricultural Affairs, highlighted issues such as corruption, inequitable distribution, failure to prioritize fertilizers like DAP, and misalignment of delivery schedules with cultivation timelines.

The MP also questioned the underperformance in the supply of improved seeds, with only 94,000 quintals (23.5%) of the planned 400,000 quintals delivered during the first half of the year.

“What is being done to address the issue permanently?” Alemu asked.

Desalegn Chane (PhD), an opposition MP, inquired into the status of Ethiopia’s highly publicized wheat export initiative. He questioned the accuracy of the wheat productivity data before lamenting against the placement of mandatory sales prices on farmers.

“They are buying fertilizer at 8,000 birr per quintal,” Desalegn stressed, arguing that price ceilings on wheat might undermine the potential for higher market returns.

Ethiopia’s wheat cultivation has expanded steadily over the past three years, reaching 4.2 million hectares this season.

Girma, the Minister of Agriculture, responded that a cascade of reforms was underway to address challenges across the sector. He argued that fertilizer procurement procedures had significantly improved since last year when a directive introduced flexibility in schedules and prices. The minister noted that nearly 15 procurement cycles were conducted during the year, resulting in savings of 20 billion birr on fertilizer expenses. 

“We have adjusted our fertilizer deliveries based on regional demands and farming cycles,” Girma noted.

He explained that procurement and delivery of fertilizer to the warehouses was the duty of the Ministry while localized distribution required regional assistance. Nearly 3 million quintals of fertilizer are scheduled to arrive at the ports of Djibouti in the coming two weeks. However, Girma acknowledged challenges in logistics management while relaying hopes that a recent cooperation with the Transport Ministry will resolve some of the issues.

Reflecting on issues over the accessibility of improved seeds, Girma revealed that new software was in development that would adjust regional disparities based on local supply and demand conditions.