Wheat Production, Marketing and Consumption in Ethiopia

Regasa Dibaba

doi:10.7176/jmcr/55-02

Abstract

Wheat is beneficial to man long before the dawn of recorded history. Ethiopia is one of the largest wheat producers in sub-Saharan African next to South Africa. Wheat is one of the most important cereal crops grown in most parts of Ethiopia. It contributes to the major share of daily consumption and cash source. The purpose of this study was to realize the production trends, consumption and utilization patterns, market supply and distribution of wheat in Ethiopia. The review based on data obtained from the Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise (EGTE), international agencies such as USDA, FAO and different international websites. The local production of wheat in Ethiopia failed to meet the increasing domestic demands of wheat and wheat products. The flour factories receive allocated amount of wheat grain on monthly basis at price set by the Government; mill it and sale to selected bakeries at pre-determined price. Thus, imported wheat through EGTE has distributed at subsidized price to flour factories which go through consumers to maintain price of bread affordable to low income groups especially in urban areas. The Ethiopian farm households consume about 60% of wheat produced; 20% is sold; and the remainder is used for seed, in- kind payments for labor, and animal feed. The wheat consumption trend in Ethiopia is gradually increasing in urban areas due to high population growth (about 2.6 % a year), migration of people to urban areas that increases in condominium living and changes in life styles and it accounts for about 11% of the national calorie intake in the country. The total consumption of wheat increased by 20 percent in recent years, making it the second most consumed cereal in Ethiopia after Maize. Keywords: Wheat Production, Marketing, Importing, Consumption, Ethiopia. DOI : 10.7176/JMCR/55-02 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

Highlights

Background of the StudyAs in most developing countries, in Ethiopia agriculture is the dominant sector of the economy
It is the basis of Ethiopian economy, contributing to 46 % of the GDP, over 90 % of exports, and 83 % of employment opportunities (USAID, 2010)
Wheat production ranks 4th in area coverage surpassed only by Teff, Maize, and Sorghum and it is the 3rd largest crop in total production (CSA, 2014)

Summary

Introduction

Background of the StudyAs in most developing countries, in Ethiopia agriculture is the dominant sector of the economy. It is the basis of Ethiopian economy, contributing to 46 % of the GDP, over 90 % of exports, and 83 % of employment opportunities (USAID, 2010) It contributes the lion share of the Gross Domestic Product and foreign currency earnings of the country from the sale of agricultural outputs abroad (ECX, 2010). Wheat is one of the main cereal crops that was beneficial to man and can grow over a wide range of climatic and soil fertility conditions It has been cultivated in the country for several millennia with little change in farm implements and farming practices among smallholder farmers and constitutes roughly 20 to 30 % of the annual cereal production and plays an appreciable role of supplying the production with carbohydrates, proteins and minerals (Katherine, 2013, Schulthess et al, 2000). Wheat production ranks 4th in area coverage surpassed only by Teff, Maize, and Sorghum and it is the 3rd largest crop in total production (CSA, 2014)

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Conclusion