Ethiopia's Agricultural Transformation Poised Model in Food Self-Sufficiency

By A Staff Writer

Addis Ababa, July 26, 2025 (ENA) Ethiopia has made relentless efforts to ensure its food sovereignty over the last seven years. The country achieved significant accomplishments in its desires of food sovereignty. It was based this milestone that Ethiopia was chosen to host the Second UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4), from July 27–29, 2025 in Addis Ababa. In this regard, this article elucidates Ethiopia's agricultural success stories hereunder:

Ethiopia has experienced a stunning agricultural revolution that has earned it a status of one of Sub-Saharan Africa's best tales of self-sufficiency. Ethiopia has embarked on transforming its agriculture to rebrand itself as a self-food sufficient nation.

This policy shift has been implemented with bold government programs and policies that seek to boost agricultural productivity and break reliance on food imports. Ethiopia initiated cluster wheat farming through irrigation, registering impressive outcomes. This national flagship program has revolutionized wheat cultivation in the country, with select seed varieties, and embracing new farming practices. This strategic initiative has transitioned the country from a wheat-importing nation to a wheat self-sufficient and exporting nation.

Between 2019 and 2025, Ethiopia has not only addressed its wheat import gap but also become a net exporter of wheat. It did so as a result of a convergence of infrastructure development, participatory governance, and climate-resilient agriculture, coherent policies, and farmer and institution-level perseverance.

A critical benchmark was set in 2019 when the Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda was launched, which put agriculture as largest sector for employment and economic backbone-- a prime driver of production and productivity.

Pointing out this national milestone to the House of People’s Representatives during budget approval session for 2018 Ethiopian Fiscal Year, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed noted that Ethiopia has become the largest wheat producer in Africa after Egypt, stressing the government's steadfast push for food security and economic independence.

The government's economic transformational plan is multi-faceted. The mainstay of the economy is agriculture, whose production and productivity has increased through irrigation schemes over the last seven years.

Ethiopia's Ministry of Agriculture announced that a remarkable achievement for the 2016/17 Ethiopian crop year (2024/2025) harvested 290 million quintals of wheat through extensive winter and summer irrigation. This impressive result underscores the nation's commitment to bolstering domestic production and reducing reliance on imports.

Minister of Agriculture Girma Amente emphasized that this accomplishment is a testament to Ethiopia's overarching strategy to substitute imported goods with homegrown produce and noted substantial progress, particularly in wheat cultivation since the launch of the National Wheat Initiative by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. 

According to the minister, the current year's production represents an increase of 60 million quintals compared to the previous season, demonstrating the effectiveness of these efforts.

Further illustrating the impact of the government's focused irrigation initiatives, the 2025 crop season production alone saw 3.5 million hectares of land cultivated, yielding an impressive 140 million quintals of wheat.

By 2024, Ethiopia irrigated 2.9 million hectares, in Afar, Oromia, Amhara, and others regions. The government's irrigation schemes allowed farmers to grow crops year-round, sidestepping seasonal uncertainties.

Simultaneously, the country engaged with international agricultural research institutions to develop and share high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties suitable for the diverse agro-ecological zones. Mechanized agriculture has also improved significantly. 

In addition, Ethiopia is developing climate-resilient agriculture proactively. Environment-friendly and eco-agriculture-friendly policies involve duty-free importation of over 400 types of farm machinery, reducing farmers' expenses. Drip and sprinkler irrigation, conservation tillage, composting, agroforestry, and crop-livestock mixed systems are saving water and increasing yields, particularly in drought-affected areas.

"Ye Lemat Turufat" (Bounty of the Basket) and the "Green Legacy Initiative" are at the center of achieving food sovereignty. They aim to increase food production, afforestation, and conservation. Apart from that, efforts towards diversification of farm production with a focus on high-value crops such as fruits, vegetables, pulses, and oilseeds are improving household income, nutrition, and food security.

Digital technology has also been utilized in favor of farmers. Ethiopia had rolled out its National Agricultural Digitalization Strategy by 2024, enabling mobile advisory services, smart input distribution systems, and real-time data-based solutions for weather and pest alerts. These technologies enabled precision guidance, particularly in arid regions like Somali and Afar.

Cluster farming and cooperative strategies are instrumental to facilitate economies of scale, joint inputs, and better access to markets, leveraging greater coordination, technology uptake, and linkage of smallholders into competitive value chains. A ten-year agricultural development strategy, transformational institutional reforms and firm policy support have reinforced the transformation. Land use reforms, greater rural finance, and improved extension services have made a significant contribution to the continuity and structural alignment to the agricultural transformation endeavors.

Ethiopia's resource endowment significantly underpins its self-reliance targets. The country has immense hectares of arable land, favorable climate, and abundant water resources in various agro-ecological zones. This implies that multiple cultivation can be conducted, ranging from staple cereals like teff, maize, wheat, and sorghum to export crops like coffee and important legumes and oilseeds.

The country has tremendous potential for meat and dairy production, and leather products. Above all, agricultural output is aided by the efforts of millions of smallholder farmers, who form the pillar of the nation's food security.

What is particularly noteworthy about the agricultural revolution in Ethiopia is not the sheer magnitude of output but the depth and breadth of the change, across the system. The change has been facilitated by leadership, powered by innovation and broadened participation. Minister Girma Amente described the government reform as “The reform has changed the complexion of agriculture by increasing mechanization, promoting cluster farming, and opening opportunities for year-round cultivation. These reforms have turned food self-sufficiency into a real and replicable phenomenon."

All told, Ethiopia's agrarian leap can be considered as a model for food self-sufficiency in the continent. It’s shift from a nation that grappled with food insecurity to a role model of agricultural self-sufficiency is a testament to the power of visionary leadership and collective effort of the government. Through bold government initiatives like the Irrigated Wheat Initiative, the transformation showcases the success of an integrated approach that emphasizes climate-resilient agriculture, farmer-centric policies, and institutional reforms. Given the vast agricultural potential with the adoption of data-led development and smallholder empowerment, Ethiopia is poised to champion a compelling model for sustainable food sovereignty in Africa and beyond.