Inside Ethiopia's agricultural success story

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In this week's blog, we will explore the agriculture system in Ethiopia and look into smallholder farming and its threats and potentials.

About 30 years ago, a disaster in Africa galvanised the world’s attention - the 1983-1985 famine in Ethiopia that took the lives of 1.2 million. The disaster prompted international aid operations on an unprecedented scale, including the controversial Live Aid concert,  raising money for famine victims. In contrast to impressions of Ethiopia being a desert that requires desperate help for water and food access, in reality, the agrifood system has emerged as the backbone of the Ethiopian economy. It accounts for about 40% of its GDP (FAO, 2018) and 80% of its exports (USAIDS, 2020), nearly 80% of the labour force the country depends on agriculture for their livelihoods (FAO, 2018). This agricultural success is accompanied by a clear link between agricultural growth and poverty reduction, but the heavy reliance on agriculture has also left millions of Ethiopian families vulnerable to hunger for many decades. 

Looking into production ...


Figure 1. Characteristics of highlands and lowlands of Ethiopia ( IFPRI,2020 )


Ethiopia has some of the largest fresh surface water rerouces in African countries to the south of Sahara, which means irrigation potential is high for 5.3million hectares of land (Awulachew and Ayana, 2011). Topographic diversity and complexity in Ethiopia have resulted in varied, fragmented agricultural patterns throughout history (Schmidt and Thomas, 2020). The highlands in the east of the country makes up 37% of the total land area but contain 75% of its population (Figure 1). Highlands is the preferred location for production due to better physical and climatic conditions, rainfall in highlands is relatively more predictable and Ethiopia’s "success" has primarily focused on the highlands. Eastern Ethiopia consists of low plains with unpredictable, limited rainfall and higher risks of exposure to diseases like malaria (Pankhurst and Piguet,2009). Agriculture is vulnerable to variations in rainfall and climate, therefore expansion of lowland agriculture is heavily constrained by rainfall (Headey, Dereje, and Taffesse 2014). Therefore, spatial variability (Figure2) in rainfall has resulted in an uneven spatial pattern of agrifood production that is heavily concentrated in the highlands.


Figure 2: Spatial variability of mean annual rainfall in Ethiopia

 (Berhanu, Seleshi and Melesse, 2014) 


Smallholder farming - challenges and opportunities

A major character of Ethiopian agriculture is that smallholder farming dominates the agriculture sector in Ethiopia, responsible for cultivating more than 90% of the total cropland (Zerssa et al., 2021). It has become clear that we need to reconsider unsustainable large-scale industrial agriculture that comes with an unacceptably high environmental cost. Smallholder farmers are beneficial for local incomes and the economy, and their nature-based practices are arguably more efficient and productive through integrating and relying on the wealth of indigenous knowledge. But they must be supported by the right tools to thrive and solve critical development challenges - achieving food security of vulnerable groups. 


However, these farms are facing several constraints that hamper crop productivity, including degrading soil fertility, land degradation (Zerssa et al., 2021). More importantly, whether there is food for supper on the table to Ethiopians depend on one thing - water. Unfavourable distribution of rainfall in combination with increased occurrence of extreme weather further threaten the productivity of the farms and has made agriculture increasingly risky (Palombi and Sessa, 2013). Ethiopia’s crop agriculture remains predominantly rainfed and given irrigation facilities are absent in many areas (only 2% of the land is irrigated), they risk frequent crop failures from low water availability. For instance, smallholder farms in West Hararghe Zone faced significant production losses of sorghum and maize in 2013 from insufficient rainfall in the cropping season (Shumetie, 2018). Without appropriate adaptation measures and resources, the effects of climate change may seriously impact Ethiopia’s agrifood system (Paul and Weinthal, 2019). 


Although agriculture has concentrated in highlands, it is reaching its maximum potential. This perhaps suggests focus could be shifted to agricultural expansion in the lowlands. Below I have highlighted some opportunities for Ethiopia according to IFPRI,2020 


  • Building resilience by small-scale irrigation and better use of groundwater 

  • Financial support for improved seeds and fertilisers 

  • Climate-smart technology including agroforestry, integrated nutrient management 

  • Increase commercialization of high-value crops


The rest of Africa has a lot to learn from Ethiopia, the agriculture sector has lifted millions from poverty, and provided livelihoods and food supply for many families. However, dependence on rainfed systems and increasing threats from climate variability may aggregate the incidence of poverty and food insecurity. Therefore, it is crucial to give significant attention to enhancing better water management for agricultural production through irrigated agriculture, especially in more vulnerable areas. To achieve this, the sector needs to overcome structural challenges and constraints that require serious attention from key players, including the government. 







Comments

  1. Claudia7 January 2022 at 05:22

    I agree with your argument and argued a similar thing myself about tackling the problems arising with climate change - that the wealth of indigenous knowledge is overlooked but is in fact is the most vital in tackling climate change.

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