Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture Achieved 80% Target in 9 months

The Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture shared that during the last nine months of the current fiscal year, 800 tons of cotton were produced, bringing in a revenue of $2.2 million. Despite Ethiopia’s favorable conditions for cotton cultivation, the country is only tapping into a small portion of its potential.

Samson Assefa, the Chief Executive of Cotton Development at the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, highlighted that areas with a lowland climate are preferred for growing cotton.

Samson Asefa shared details of regions where cotton farming is currently practiced, such as Gewane, Metema, Humera, Gamo Gofa, Wolaytana, and South Omo. He further mentioned plans to expand cotton cultivation to the Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz regions on a larger scale. However, the cotton planting season of this year in Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz faced setbacks due to financial constraints and security concerns. According to data from the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, there are currently 28 raw cotton ginning factories operating in Ethiopia.

The Ministry of Agriculture had aimed to dedicate 105,000 hectares of land for cotton farming this fiscal year, but they were only able to utilize 81,000 hectares. Despite the shortfall, they managed to harvest 1.5 million quintals of cotton over the past nine months, which is 80% of their target. From this harvest, they exported 800 tons of cotton, generating $2.2 million in revenue.

Last week, the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration announced that Ethiopia earned more than $2.5 billion from foreign trade in the first 9 months of the ongoing fiscal year. Read More…

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