Efforts of Gov't to Enhance Agricultural Productivity Remarkable : Senior Researcher Arega Shumatie

Addis Ababa January 11/2023/ENA/ The effort being made by the government of Ethiopia to achieve higher production by producing crops in multiple season is remarkable, Senior Researcher at Ethiopian Economics Association Arega Shumatie said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Arega Shumatie said agriculture is the mainstay of the overall economy.

Over the past few years, the agricultural production has showed growth, even in the desert areas due to application of technologies such as irrigation, the researcher said.

The efforts expended by the government in using technologies and mechanization should be intensified, he said, adding that the government should also identify the types of the crops that are cultivated.

“Over the past three years, the government has tried to have an active intervention on the agriculture, trying to have multiple time production within the fiscal years. For instance, the government had given due attention to irrigation and mechanizing production system, having a focus on few of the crops specially wheat,” he said. 

The researcher explained that this practice should be expanded to other crops and different parts of the country.

Despite the country's big agricultural potential for commercial and export products, the level of production is far below from what is expected, the researcher said.

Ethiopia’s agriculture is dominantly practiced by small holder farmers, who frequently use traditional production methods and largely dependent on nature, Arega said.

Therefore, the government should provide support to farmers to enhance productivity and free from total nature dependence.

“The country has potential for diversifying products because of the agro enology of the country. If there is enhanced effort by the government, the country can produce huge amount of surplus products that may even feed some parts of Africa,” he said.

The efforts being made by the government to mechanize and modernize agriculture through assisting small holder farmers utilize mechanized farming has significant contribution for increasing the overall production.

According to him, the government should try to identify the type of technology that could be introduced for wheat and barley producing areas, commercial crop producing areas and irrigation potential areas.

He added that Ethiopia needs to plan its own chemical fertilizer and other essential agricultural inputs in order to avoid dependency on other countries.

Ethiopia can learn experience from the Asian Tigers, especially the Chinese and Korean experience, registering high productivity from small holders farmers in fragmented and small plot of land, the senior researcher pointed out.