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FDCO • • ERS

·. A.SURVEY OF

AGRICULTURE

ETHIOPIA

U.S.DEPARTMJ;~t ~FAGRICULTURE
, ~··.·.· ..· ~C.?N()Ml~.R~SE~RCHSERVICE
··.·.·FORE!I;GM·REGIQN:AL ANA:t..;Y:SJS.DIVlSlON
 CONTENTS
Page
Summary • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • lV
Agriculture in the Ethiopian economy • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1
Physical environment • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2
Location and topography • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 2
Climate • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3
Soils ••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 6
Land and labor • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ••••••• 7
Land use • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 7
Size of farms • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 7
Land tenure • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 9
Farm labor • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 10
Farm practices • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 11
Crop rotations and cultivation patterns • • • • • • • • • • 11
Farm equipment • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 12
Fertilizer • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 13
Improved seed • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 13
Plant pest control • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 13
Irrigation • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 14
Farmers' organizations and credit • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 15
Cooperatives and mutual aid associations • • • • • • • • • • • • • 15
Farm credit • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 16
Government agricultural policy and foreign agricultural aid • • • • • 16
Agricultural policy • • • • • • • •••••••••• 16
Foreign aid • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 17
Farm production and foreign agricultural trade • • • •••••• 17
Crops • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 17
Livestock and livestock products • • • • • • • •••• 32
Trade patterns • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••• 36
U.S. trade with Ethiopia • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 39
Trade regulations • • • • • • •
Agricultural prospects •
Bibliography • • • • • • •
•
• • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • . .. .
• • • • • • 41
41
42'
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Washington, D.C., 20502 March 1969

iii
 SUMMARY

Subsistence farming is likely to dominate Ethiopian agriculture for many years,

but the foundation for modernization is being laid in several areas by the Government.
Financial and technical aid, primarily from the United States but also from the
United Nations and other sources, is contributing significantly to the Government's
programs to expand, diversify, and modernize farm production. These programs include:

• Establishment of agricultural research institutions and of an extension

service
• Formation of farm cooperatives
• Promotion of cultivation of cash crops by smal~ farmers and of large-scale
commercial farming
• Improvement of livestock management.

Proposals have been made to improve the land tenure system, especially the
position of the tenant farmers, who generally must pay an excessive share of the
output to the landowner, and often lack security of tenure.
Ethiopian and u.s. farm exports do not compete in the world market, nor are they
likely to do so soon. Instead, the two countries' leading farm exports complement
each other. Coffee accounts for 50 to 60 percent of Ethiopia's total exports, and
the United States--Ethiopia's leading foreign agricultural market--imports 65 to 75
percent of the coffee. Many of Ethiopia's farm imports--mainly cotton, grains, and
grain products--are financed largely under P.L. 480.
Considerable longrun expansion of Ethiopia's grain and livestock production is
possible in the country's physical environment--enough to export. Ethiopia reportedly
leads Africa in cattle numbers, but most are unculled scrub cattle used for draft
power.

Hides, skins, and other livestock products account for 14 percent of all exports,
followed by oilseeds, 9 percent, and legumes, 8 percent. Grain, grown on a larger
area than any other crop, is used almost entirely for food where, or near where, it
is produced. The main grains grown are teff, sorghum, barley, and corn. Other crops,
also grown mainly for domestic consumption, include sugarcane, cotton, and chat (a
mild stimulant). Cotton output is expanding rapidly, but Ethiopia must still import
lint for its mills.

Despite large areas of unused or underused fertile land, farm development is

hindered by small unit size (3 to 5 acres); little use of improved seed, fertilizers,
and pesticides; poor tools and equipment; and control of a large share of the land by
absentee owners, the Government, the State Church (Coptic), and tribal groups.

Roads are few and in poor condition, and heavy import duties on trucks and fuel
add considerably to the cost of motor transport. Rail freight rates are among the
world's highest. Transportation to local markets is mainly by pack animals or on
human backs.

Facilities for harvested products are much like those in other developing coun-
tries: mostly thatched, wickerwork sheds; insufficient electricity or refrigeration
in rural areas; inadequate commercial storage and processing; and deficient marketing
channels.

iv
 A SURVEY OF AGRICULTURE IN ETHIOPIA

By Omero Sabatini
and Louise N. Samuel
Special Projects Branch
Foreign Regional Analysis Division

AGRICULTURE IN lliE ElliiOPIAN ECONOMY

Agriculture is by far the largest sector of Ethiopia's economy. It
accounts for about two-thirds of the gross domestic product, employs about
nine-tenths of the labor force, and provides nearly all the export earnings--
99 percent in 1966. Ethiopia's small manufacturing sector consists primarily
of industries that process farm products. Ethiopia's agriculture, mainly of
the subsistence type, furnishes nearly all of the country's food supplies.
Consumption levels appear to be quite low in calorie terms, but relatively
high in quality by African standards.
Coffee, produced mainly for export, is Ethiopia's principal cash crop
and the mainstay of the entire modern sector of the economy. Ethiopia also
exports sizable amounts of dry legumes and oilseeds, and has a small surplus
of meat. Until the mid-1950's, Ethiopia was a small net exporter of grains,
but has been a small net importer (mainly of wheat flour) during most of the
past decade. Despite a marked expansion in cotton and sugarcane output since
the mid-1950's, the country still relies on imports to meet a large share of
its cotton needs for the relatively important textile industry, and for part
of its sugar requirements.
Over most of the central highlands, agriculture consists mainly of the
production of crops, primarily grains and dry legumes, and livestock raising
is of secondary importance. Perhaps one-fifth of the rural population, how-
ever, consists of nomadic or partly nomadic herdsmen, who subsist largely on
livestock products. These nomads are concentrated mainly in the southeast and
northeast.
Only a small part of the country's total farm production--probably no
more than 15 percent--is marketed. About three-fourths of all farm production
that enters commercial channels is carried to primary markets by pack animals
and a large share of the rest is ~ackpacked, generally to small, open-air•
markets (fig. 1), as an estimated four-fifths of the villages are not accessi-
ble by road. The volume of interregional trade in farm products is very
small, but farm commodities for export account for a very large share of the
goods carried by the transportation system. The high cost of internal trans-
portation increases the price of farm exports, making them less competitive

1
 BN-26946

Figure 1.--Farm products in an open-air market in

~ddis Ababa, Ethiopia.

than they otherwise would be on the world market; it also substantially

raises the cost of imported farm requisites.

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Location and Topography

Ethiopia is situated in the northeastern part of Africa known as the

Horn. It is bound on the northeast by the Red Sea, on the west by the Sudan,
on the south by Kenya and the Somali Republic, and on the east by the Somali

2
Republic and the French Territory of Afars and Issas (formerly French
Somaliland). Including the former Italian colony of Eritrea, which was
federated with Ethiopia in 1952 and was incorporated into it as a province
in 1962, Ethiopia encompasses an area of some 472,000 square miles (1.2
million square kilometers). This is somewhat larger than the combined areas
of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico; however, with an estimated mid-1967 popu-
lation of 23.5 million, Ethiopia is much more densely populated than those
three States.
The country comprises several different physiographic areas, each with
its distinct climate, vegetation, and type of agriculture. Elevations range
from 116 meters (1 meter = 3.2 feet) below sea level to more than 4,600
meters above, but most of the area lies at altitudes of 1 1 000 to 3,000 meters
(fig. 2). A vast area, known as the Ethiopian Plateau or the Ethiopian high-
lands, covers most of the western two-thirds of the country; it is divided
by the Great Rift Valley into a western sector and a much smaller eastern
sector. The plateau is interspersed with high mountain peaks and numerous
river valleys; most of Ethiopia's crop production comes from this plateau.
The adjacent lowlands, in the southeast and northeast, are largely arid or
semiarid and are used by nomadic or seminomadic tribes for livestock grazing.
A narrow, sun-parched coastal plain runs the entire length of Eritrea.
Ethiopia's largest rivers--the Blue Nile, Omo, Awash, and Wabi-Shabale--
are potential sources of irrigatioD water. Most of the others are of little
actual or potential importance for agriculture. They flow through deep and
often inaccessible valleys; during the rainy season they become rushing tor-
rents, but they are often dry the rest of the year.
Climate
Ethiopia's greatly diversified climate makes it possible to grow a wide
variety of crops, ranging from Tropical to Temperate Zone types. Although
the country lies near the Equator, the climate of the plateau is modified by
elevation so that most of the area has a mild to cool climate. Frost some-
times occurs at the higher elevations, but there is no prolonged cold season;
given sufficient water, crops can be grown the year round over most of the
plateau.
At Addis Ababa, the capital, the annual absolute maximum temperature is
85° F., and the minimum is 270 F. Maximum and minimum temperatures are re-
spectively 900 and 330 at Jima and 900 and 45° at Harar. In the lowlands
near the Sudan, maximum temperatures may be higher than 104° F.; in the Ogaden
(the low-lying region bordering on the Somali Republic), 1130 F. Temperatures
are as high as 120° F. in the semiarid section of the Dankale lowlands, in the
northeast.

Rainfall, which is unevenly distributed over most of the country, is the

greatest natural limitation to Ethiopian agriculture. Even on the plateau,
where in most places annual rainfall is above 40 inches, there are pronounced
wet and dry seasons (fig. 3). Here, the period of heavy rainfall varies
somewhat from one area to another, but it generally begins in April or May
and ends in September. The dry season lasts from October through March,

3
 RED SEA ETHIOPIA

- · - · - Province boundary

@ National capital

® Province capital

· - - - - Railroad

- - - - Road or track

100 200 Miles

100 200 Kilometers

OF ADEN

-6

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEG. ERS 5657-68 (6) ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE

Figure 2.--Ethiopia: Topography.

4
 RED JAZA ' IR
AVERAGE ANNUAl.
FARASAN ~ PRECIPITATION
MM. IN .
1,27.() 50
and over and over
1,016 40
762 30
508 20
254 10
Flaures n.. r woather stations
show ovoroae annual 0 0
precipitation In mllllmotors.

100 200 Kilometers

2-
GULF OF ADI!N

SUDAN

SOMALI REPUBLIC

U . S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE NEG . ERS 5658-68 (6) ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE

Figure 3.--Ethiopia: Rainfall and temperatures.

al t)')(),'l..\gh the_re may be 2 or 3 months. of light rain beginning in February. The
heavy..,..,~~- .. ~orrential; at elevations above 2,000 meters they may
be accompanied ·by hail,'which causes heavy crop loss. The highest annual
precipitation occurs in-western Ethiopia; in some places it reaches 79 inches
a year. In the southeast it totals only 4 inches, and in the Dankale area it
is only 2 inches.
Ethiopians classify their agricultural regions by temperature and eleva-
tions as follows:
1) Moderate (Woina Dega) Zone: Elevations range from 1,800 to 2,500
meters, and temperatures from 950 to 600 F. ·This is the principal area for
settled agriculture and crop cultivation. Crops grown here include teff and
other grains, dry legumes, oilseeds, coffee, cotton, tobacco, and a wide range
of vegetables.
2) Cold (Dega) Zone: Elevations range from 2,500 to 4,600 meters, and
temperatures from 600 F. to near freezing. This zone is primarily mountain
grassland, with many wooded areas; it is used for.raising livestock and for
cultivating teff, barley, wheat, dry legumes, and linseed.
3) Tropical (Qualla) Zone: Elevations are below 1,800 meters. Most of
the vegetation consists of desert and thorn scrub, wooded savanna, and jungle.
Humidity is very high near the sea. The zone is used mainly by nomadic tribes
for grazing livestock and for sparse cultivation of corn, sorghums, and
tobacco.
Soils
Reddish-Brown Lateritic soils, among the most productive in Ethiopia,
occur over much of the plateau region of western Ethiopia. They are deep,
well-drained soils of medium acidity, with good moisture-holding capacity,
and are fairly well supplied with most plant nutrients except phosphorus. The
surface horizons ar~ clayey and fairly high in organic matter. With applica-
tion of lime and phosphorus they could produce good crop yields. On the high
plateau and hill terrain these soils are associated with Grumusols, which
occupy depressional areas. . .
Grumusols are dark-gray to black plastic clays, generally calcareous;
they are we11· supplied with most·plant nutrients, but are difficult to work
because they are sticky when wet and hard when dry. Grumusols on flat areas,
generally requiring drainage for successful crop production, are also associ-
ated with Reddish Brown soils along parts of the Sudan border and the central
section of the Rift Valley.
In the southern half of Ethiopia, mainly east of the Rift Valley, there
are much more extensive areas of Reddish Brown soils. These soils are neutral
to calcareous and somewhat coarse textured, with a relatively low water-
holding capacity, which limits their suitability for crop production.
Alluvial and associated soils, occurring in areas along the rivers, have
a high potential for agriculture. West of the Rift Valley these soils are
slightly acid and are loamy in texture; in some places they need drainage for

6
crop production. East of the Rift Valley they are mildly alkaline and loamy;
they generally require supplemental moisture for satisfactory crop yields.
Although much of the plateau region has generally fertile soils, with a
considerable potential for expanding crop production, perhaps half consists
of shallow, stony soils which are suitable only for limited grazing, or of
rocky areas without agricultural value. Much of the eastern part of the
country is covered with Red Desert soils; these sandy soils generally receive
insufficient moisture for crop production, and provide only sparse grazing.

LAND AND LABOR

Land Use
Available data on land use in Ethiopia provide only broad indications of
prevailing land-use patterns. According to these data, about 55 percent of
the country's total area is taken up by permanent grassland and 10 percent by
cropland, bringing the area classified as agricultural land to nearly two-
thirds of the total area of the country (table 1). Forests take up less than
7 percent of the remaining land; desert, other nonagricultural land, and
bodies of water account for the rest.
Three-fifths of the cropland is sown to grain and half of this area is
in teff. Coffee and false banana occupy almost all the land in permanent
crops. Less than one-fifth of the cropland is fallow land.
Most of the cropland in Ethiopia is in the highlands or the river
valleys; nearly all of the pastureland is in the vast lowlands of the south-
east, in the Great Rift Valley, and in the plains of the northeast. About
one-third of the country's total area consists of tree and shrub savanna,
which is used primarily by nomadic and seminomadic tribes for pasturing live-
stock. A large share of the permanent grassland is believed to be potentially
cultivable.
Size of Farms
Most farms in Ethiopia are small subsistence units that one family can
cultivate with its own labor, traditional tools, and one or two draft animals.
The typical farm is only large enough to produce food for the farm family,
and to provide a small surplus for barter or sale and for meeting rental or
tax obligations or both.
However, no overall breakdown of farms by size is yet available nor, so
far as is known, has there been an estimate of the total number of farms.
Surveys in four of the highland provinces indicate an average cropland area
of about 1.2 to 2.0 hectares (1 hectare= 2.47 acres) pe~ holding~.not includ-
ing grazing land. A holding generally consists of 3 to 5 parcels. In none
of the surveyed provinces is the proportion of farms with more than 4 hectares
of cropland larger than 10 percent of the total number of fa~s~ _ .

7
 Table 1.--Ethiopia: Land use, 1964

Percentage of Percentage of
Use Total area agricultural
total area land

1 1 000 - - - - - - Percent
hec:ta'res
Agricultural land:
Arable land:
Grains • . . • . 6,895 5.6 8.8
. . .. . ••
• • • • • •
Dry legumes • • • • • 762 0.6 1.0
Oilseeds • • • • • • • 658 0.5 0.8
Other crops • 419 0.4 0.5
Fallow land .!/
Total arable
.. ..
•
•
•
land • •
• ~
1,955
10,689
1.6
8.7
2.5
13.6
•
Coffee and other
permanent crops ... y 963 0.8 1.2
Total cropland . • . • . . 11,652 9.5 14.9
Permanent grassland . . • • 66,759 54.6 85.1
Total agricultural land 78,411 64.2 100.0
Forest • • • • • • • .• • • • 8,000 6.5
Other • • • • • • .• • • • • 35,779 29.3
Total area • • • .• • • ,, . 122,190 100.0

l/ Includes temporary meadows.

y "Other permanent crops" consist primarily of false banana trees.
Sources: (4, 11). In this table and the following tables, underscored
numbers in parentheses refer to listings in the bibliography.

Percentage figures do not add to all totals because of rounding.

There are some large commercial farms in Ethiopia (fig. 4) but they take
up only a small part of the total cultivated area. Most of these farms are
foreign concessions or are operated on a partnership basis by Ethiopians and
foreign investors. They mainly supply products for the processing industries
or for export. The Ethiopian Government plans to promote the establishment
of more of these commercial farms. A few of the larger farms have several
thousand hectares and employ large numbers of workers.
8
 BN-33259

Fi9ure 4.--A modern commercial farm in Ethiopia.

{Photo by Ethiopian Ministry of Information.)

Land Tenure
Types of land tenure are numerous, complex, and often little related to
Western concepts of landownership. The right to the land varies according to
region, local custom, and type of agriculture. Measurement and registration
of rural land was first ordered in 1941 1 and by 1967 some 5 percent of the
Ethiopian terrain had been measured; actual ownership of a large share of the
unmeasured land is undetermined.

Much of the land is held by a few thousand individuals, most of whom

have received it in return for services to the Government and for further
services which they are required to render the Government. By custom, these
landowners are entitled to receive certain services, as well as rent, from
the families living on and working the land. Since the 1940's, some of the
privileges of the landlords have been gradually reduced by law, though in
some areas they have not been eliminated in practice.

Large areas, especially in the north, are _held by tribal or kinship

groups, whose members can claim a share of the land for cultivation, even
after being separated from the group for generations. The Coptic Church l/
has a right to land revenue over an amount of land which is variously esti-
mated at between 25 and 40 percent of the country's area, but it has actual
ownership of only a small part of it. The Government, which owns much of the
idle land, also owns some cultivated land. In large areas of nomadic and
seminomadic herding there is no ownership of land; here, tradition and custom
govern the rights of usage.
Foreigners can own land only by permission of the Emperor. Generally,
this permission is granted only to foreigners who have resided in Ethiopia
for a long time or have rendered some specific service to the country.
However, concessions are granted and long-term leases can be arranged.

About half of the Ethiopian farmers are believed to be tenants. The

landowner, by law or custom, may claim up to three-fourths of the farm's

1/ Farmers in the central part of the country generally are Coptic Chris-
tians-and, as such, adhere to the faith of the ruling classes and to the
established religion of the Empire; people in the eastern and northern parts
of the country are mostly Moslems, while those in the southwest belong pri-
marily to local religions, generally termed pagan.

9
output and in addition may require the tenant to perform some work on the
owner's holding without pay. The tenancy agreement may be terminated or the
rent may be raised 4 years after the tenant has started working the land.
The landowner generally does not participate in the management of the farm.
Because of the small share of output remaining to them and the insecurity of
their tenure, most tenants have little or no interest in increasing farm pro-
duction, or making any improvement or capital investment on the land. Incen-
tives are also lacking among farmers who work tribal or kinship land, since
they have no permanent claim on the holdings they work.
Several laws have been proposed or adopted to improve the economic con-
ditions of the tenants, to eliminate or at least reduce lack of security in
land tenure, and to modernize the entire land-tenure system. A Ministry of
Land Reform and Administration was created in 1966, but the first steps toward
land reform in Ethiopia were taken in 1952 1 when the Emperor decreed the dis-
tribution of plots of Government land to the unemployed. A few thousand
allotments have been made under this program and more Government land is
likely to be distributed in the future. At present, however, the principal
aim of the Government's land-reform policy appea~s to be improving the situ-
ation of the small tenant farmer, mainly by substituting a fixed rent in
place of the present system of paying a share of the output. The Ministry of
Land Reform has also made proposals for levying special taxes on idle land
and for speeding up and improving the survey and registration of all holdings.
Farm Labor

Ethiopia's total labor force was estimated at nearly 11.5 million in

1965; about nine-tenths of these workers were engaged in agriculture, pri-
marily in subsistence farming and herding. These activities continue to
absorb most of the new workers entering the labor force every year. The agri-
cultural labor force consists primarily of farm operators and unpaid family
members.

In 1965, salaried workers in agriculture, including seasonal workers

hired by commercial farms to work on such crops as coffee, oilseeds, cotton,
and sugarcane, numbered 21,700, or 7 percent of the labor force in the modern
sector of the economy. More than half of the salaried farmworkers were in
Shawa Province; most of the rest were in Wallo, Tegre, Arusi, and Eritrea
~ovinces. Seasonal workers are also hired by some of the wealthy landowners
operating traditional farms and by a few of the small farms producing some
crops for the market. These workers are usually hired through an ag~nt who
negotiates working conditions and salaries and is responsible for the worker's
performance. Migratory workers engaged in picking coffee often travel hundreds
of miles to get to the place of employment and are usually accompanied by
their wives, who help with the work.
Labor productivity among Ethiopian farmers is generally low, largely
because of the scarcity of inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides, and improved
seed and the lack of modern farming equipment.
Among the main ethnic group--the Amhara-Tigrai--farming and herding tasks
are divided according to age and sex. Men work in the fields (a practice not
very common in traditional Africa) and thresh the grain; women cook the meals,
10
crush the grain, carry water, and gather fuelwood. Young boys and older men
watch the livestock and protect the ripening gra~n from birds and animals.
At harvesttime, however, the entire family generally works in the field.
Among the nomads, there is usually no well-defined division of labor by sex
or age.

FARM PRACTICES

Except on the few commercial farms, agriculture in Ethiopia ~s carried

out primarily on a subsistence basis, with inadequate tools and generally
primitive methods of cultivation. In such activities-as seeding, weeding,
and harvesting, Ethiopians are said to rank above most other African farmers,
but it is difficult to bring about significant modernization of agricultural
practices, partly because of widespread illiteracy among the rural population.

Despite the many handicaps, a foundation for improvement of farm prac-

tices has been laid in selected areas, largely with help from the United
States but also from FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations). The Imperial Ethiopian College of Agriculture ang Mechanical Arts,
established in 1952, and a few other organizations (all established since then)
have carried on research for improved varieties and st~ains of crops, and ,fo~
the development of farm machinery and buildings su~t~d to local needs. An
Agricultural Research Institute was established in 1965. An Extension Service
has been created, even though its activity is still somewhat limited in scope,
and research is beginning to find application on the farm, primarily in the
immediate vicinity of the research centers.

Crop Rotations and Cultivation Patterns

After centuries of cultivation the soils of Ethiopia are still in

generally good condition, indicating that the rotation systems and customary
cultivation practices have been generally satisfactory.

Crop-rotation patterns vary with location and types of soils. In areas

of fertile soil and relatively level terrain the land is cropped every yiar:
a leguminous crop is planted one year, and various grains the next 8 years; ·
then the cycle is repeated. On less fertile and more sloping land a year of
fallow may be substituted for a year of grain, or a crop of legumes may be
planted during the 5th year of the 9-year cycle. In parts of the southwest,
however, the fields may lie fallow for several years, even as long as 20. In
some areas, after a long period of fallow, the ground is broken with ~plow
and the sod is gathered in piles and burned with small amounts of cow dbng;
the resulting ash is then spread over the field and plowed into the dirt:

In the highlands the planting of crops generally takes place in April or

May, before the main rainy season; harvesting begins in October, after the
rainy season ends. In a few areas, rainfall distribution or availability of
irrigation water makes it possible to plant a, second crop. Sometimes inter-
cropping (generally sorghum and corn, or corn and-dry legumes) is practiced,
so that the farmer has a chance. of harvesting at l~ast one crop in case of
adverse weather.

11
 Contour plowing is common, and the ground is often left unharrowed to
cut down on erosion. Terracing is practiced in a few areas in the highlands.
Wind and water erosion of the soils is a serious problem in some areas,
however.
Farm Equipment
Equipment in general use is very primitive (fig. 5). The plow is the
principal farm implement on the plateau; the hoe is more common in the south.
The typical plow only turns the top of the soil and the operation must be
repeated several times to prepare the ground for planting. Spades and hoes
of numerous shapes and sizes are used for a variety of chores.
Most of the seed is broadcast by hand. Grain is harvested with a sickle;
the sheaves are then spread on the ground and threshed by driving oxen back
and forth over them, or they are put in a pile and beaten with sticks. The
grain is winnowed by tossing it into the air against the wind, which blows
away the chaff. The grain is either crushed with wooden mortars and pestles,
or ground with simple, hand-operated, stone mills.·
Ethiopian farmers use donkeys, horses, mules, and camels almost exclu-
sively as pack animals; oxen supply most of the draft power. Although the
wheel was first introduced into the highlands in the mid-19th century, and
Ethiopians became increasingly familiar with its use during the Italian
occupation in the late 1930's, wheeled transportation is still little used
by farmers. Carts and wagons and such equipment as waterwheels and windmills
are, however, increasing.

BN-33261
Figure 5.--Preparing the ground with oxen and a wooden plow. The two
men at left are bringing extra plows to attach to the idle
teams. (Photo by Africa and Middle East Branch, Foreign
Regional Analysis Division.)

12
 Tractors (their total number was estimated at a little over 1,000 in
1966) and some other mechanized equipment are increasingly being used on
commercial farms and at experiment stations and on some demonstration plots.
Toward the end of 1967, it was announced that assembling of farm machinery
(initially, 200 tractors annually and some 600 other farm machines) would
begin in Ethiopia. In general, Government programs aim at developing and
promoting the use of improved traditional tools, rather than large-scale farm
mechanization.
Fertilizer
Although Ethiopia has a large animal population, very little manure is
used as a fertilizer except in eastern Sid~mo, where large amounts are applied
to false banana trees. Most of the manure is made into cakes and used as
fuel, or mixed with mud and used to plaster the walls and floors of the houses.
Manure is also used to make tops for cooking pots. Crops are seldom grown for
use as green manure.
Except on two or three commercial farms, which import supplies for their
own use, consumption of chemical fertilizer is virtually nil. Very small
amounts of organic fertilizer are produced locally by commercial slaughter-
houses. The Government has initiated a modest program for the effective use
of fertilizer, but no major increase in its use is likely to occur in the
near future.
Improved Seed
As a rule, improved seed is not readily available to Ethiopian farmers.
Most farmers save part of their crop from one season to provide seed for the
next planting, without regard to quality or purity of the seed. A limited
program for seed improvement was begun in the late 1940's, and some assistance
has been received from the United States and FAO. Seed potatoes from the
United States and hybrid corn have been introduced in very limited amounts.
Small quantities of improved seed grain and pulses, as well as coffee seed-
lings and vegetable seeds, have been distributed in several localities.
Ethiopia does not have an official seed certification agency.
Plant Pest Control
Insects and diseases cause enormous loss of crops in Ethiopia. Insects
and rodents alone are said to destroy as much as 25 percent of the grain in
storage, and birds reportedly cut sorghum yields by half in some areas.
Locust invasions have at times destroyed the entire grain crop in large areas
of the country, necessitating sizable imports of grain to ward off starvation
of the local population.
While commercial farms and Government installations use small quantities
of pesticides, the typical farmer is unfamiliar with their use and cannot
afford the supplies and necessary equipment. Plant protection for most farms
consists of having a boy chase birds and larger animals from corn and sorghum
fields by means of a whip or slingshot.

13
 BN-6356x

Figure 6.--Planes spraying insecticide during a locust- control

campaign. Flagman guides planes f r om a t ermite mound.

As a start toward establishing a modern system of plant pest control,

some research has been conducted in identifying insects and plant diseases,
and a few pest-control demonstrations are being carried out. With assistance
from the United States, FAO, and the United Kingdom, an agency has been set
up under the Ministry of Agriculture for control of locusts (fig. 6), which
are probably the country's most serious pest. Ethiopia is a member of the
Desert Locust Control Organization for East Africa, an association grouping
several East African countries, with foreign assistance and FAO coordination.

Irrigation

At present, irrigation is practiced only on small tracts of land border-

ing rivers and on some modern farms; the total irrigated area is believed to
be about 50,000 hectares. Among commercial farms, two sugar plantations east
of Addis Ababa and a cotton plantation northeast of Dase have the most impor-
tant irrigation projects. Small individual irrigation projects are located

14
mostly in northeastern Shawa Province and along the Red Sea coast at the
mouths of rivers.
More than 24 1 000 hectares are under irrigation in the Awash River basin;
recent surveys indicate that o60,000 hectares there and in the Blue Nile
basin could be brought under irrigation. Other areas suitable for irrigation·
bring -the total potentially irrigable area in Ethiopia to nearly 1 million
hectares, or somewhat less than one-tenth of the total cropland; however,
irrigation of the larger part of this area is not likely to take place for
some time.

FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS AND CREDIT

Cooperatives and Mutual Aid Associations
Ethiopia's first officially recognized cooperative was the Alemaya
Farmers' Cooperative, a vegetable-marketing society, established in 1963
under the sponsorship of the agricultural college.
The Cooperative Societies Law, enacted in 1966, governs the establishment
of new cooperatives and sets a minimum initial membership of 10 persons. As
of mid-1967, lo farmers' cooperatives, some with a membership of several
hundred, had been registered.
Most of the groups that have been founded are producers' cooperatives,
concerned mainly with the marketing of coffee. Plans for the cooperative
movement envision multipurpose groups for purchasing agricultural supplies
and providing services and credit. However, efforts to expand the cooperative
movement are hindered by the high rate of illiteracy among the farmers, lack
of transportation facilities from many producing areas to major market and
export points, inadequate storage facilities on the farm and at commercial
centers, and a shortage of trained personnel to assist in the formation and
guidance of the societies.
Although farm cooperatives are just beginning to be organized, Ethiopian
farmers practice mutual aid in various phases of their activities. There are
five main types of mutual aid associations in the country. Three of them,
Jihi, Ras Simosh, and Wonphel, involve the exchange or provision of labor for
agricultural activities; two, Eder and Ekub, are mutual financial-aid
societies.
Members of Jihi help one another on a voluntary and informal basis. In
Ras Simosh, at the request of a needy farmer, the village chief summons help
from other villagers. Wonphel is a formal cooperative association, in which
the members are obliged to work for each other, generally in performing such
typical farm chores as plowing, weeding, and harvesting.
Eder is a traditional social organization in which the members share
funerar-ind other emergency expenses. Ekub is an informal, small savings
association which provides capital for such items as bullocks, plows, and
clothing, or for marriage expenses. In both of these groups, funds are
collected from members at regular intervals; e.g., weekly or monthly.
lo
 Other types of cooperative enterprises include the transportation of
crops to market, and the building of farmhouses and other facilities.
Farm Credit

The few banks existing in Ethiopia are located in the urban centers.
Low-cost credit for farmers is scarce, and the small amount of institutional
farm credit granted goes to a handful of larger farmers who can provide ade-
quate collateral. In 1965, for instance, only 50 farm loans were made by the
Development Bank, which is the only specialized source of agricultural credit.
The average amount of these loans was the equivalent of US$8,000 to coffee
producers and nearly $13,000 to other farmers. This kind of loan is not
available to the typical farmer; on many small holdings, work oxen may be the
only capital investment--and even they may belong to the landlord.
Small farmers generally depend on moneylenders for funds, or on relatives
or friends. Loans from relatives or friends are made on an informal basis,
with no definite schedule for repayment; often the farmer repays the loan by
working on the lender's holding.
With adequate support services the mutual aid societies, Eder and Ekub,
could become the basis of a farm credit program for small agricultural ----
producers.

GOVERNMENT AGRICULTURAL POLICY AND FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL AID

Agricultural Policy
The Ethiopian Government considers agriculture the most favorable base
for stimulating the country's economic growth. The general aim of its agri-
cultural policy is to increase farm production in order to (1) meet the needs
of an expanding population and an anticipated improvement in the level of
living; (2) increase the output of raw material for existing and new agricul-
tural processing industries; and (3) help reduce the deficit in the balance
of trade by expanding and diversifying agricultural exports and reducing the
need for agricultural imports. Activities aimed at improving the agricultural
economy have been stepped up since about 1966.
Some measures adopted during the past several years, such as the enact-
ment of the law on cooperatives, creation of the Ministry of Land Reform,
establishment of the Livestock and Meat Board, initiation of the Regional
Livestock Development Program, and creation of the Grain Corporation and the
Oilseeds Development Company, as well as marketing and pricing regulations
affecting certain farm products, are discussed elsewhere in this report.
Other measures adopted by the Government include the decentralization of the
Ministry of Agriculture in 1963-64 and the setting up of provincial offices,
and elimination in March 1966 of certain privileges relating to land taxes.
A bill imposing a tax on agricultural income was promulgated in November 1967.
In 1967, under AID (U.S. Agency for International Development) financing,
a comprehensive economic survey of the agricultural sector was begun by the
Stanford Research Institute for the Ethiopian Government to prepare a 15-year
16
plan for the development of a more market-oriented agriculture and of related
industries.
The Ethiopian Government welcomes private foreign investment, especially
in commercial agriculture, and the farm enterprises that have been established
have made a significant contribution to the agricultural economy.
Foreign Aid
Technical and financial assistance from foreign sources is helping con-
siderably in the development and modernization of Ethiopia's farm economy.
Assistance has come from a number of sources, with the United States as the
largest single donor. Technicians have been provided by more than 15 nations
and various agencies of the United Nations. Because of the dominant role of
agriculture in the Ethiopian economy, the agricultural sector has received
a relatively large share of the foreign aid.
AID and its predecessor agencies have assisted in many phases of agri-
cultural development. The country's one agricultural college was established
with u.s. funds and personnel, and u.s. funds were used to transform the
agricultural technical school at Jima into an effective institution. Other
phases of AID assistance include projects for livestock development, agri-
cultural extension services, crop and livestock pest control, grain -storage,
and training agricultural manpower, -in addition to financing the survey by
the Stanford Research Institute mentioned above.

FARM PRODUCTION AND FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL TRADE

In Ethiopia, most crops are raised mainly or exclusively for subsistence,
but coffee is produced mainly for export and some oilseeds and dry legumes
are also exported. For lack of adequate statistics it is difficult to deter-
mine the share of agricultural production that comes from livestock raising,
but livestock and livestock products normally make up about one-tenth'of
agricultural exports.

Grains, coffee, dry legumes, and oilseeds are Ethiopia's principal crops.
Coffee is the principal cash crop, but grains (and to a much smaller degree,
dry legumes and oilseeds) are more important in terms of area planted and
value of output. Other crops of some importance are sugarcane, cotton, the
false banana tree (grown mainly for food but also for fiber), and chat (a
shrub whose leaves and twigs are chewed as a stimulant). Virtually no crops
are grown in Ethiopia for use primarily or exclusively as feed.

Grains and other field crops are grown throughout the areas of settled
agriculture, but practically all tree crops, such as coffee and the false
banana, grow in the southern half of the country. In parts of the southwest
where the false banana tree provides the staple food, grain and other field
~rops are not as important as on the rest of the plateau.

17
 Available data on area and production of crops in Ethiopia are often
incomplete and unreliable, as is the case for many developing countries. As
a rule, published Ethiopian statistics have been used in this study. In some
cases, however, these statistics have been supplemented with estimates by
u.s. Government agencies and international organizations; these data too,
have a wide margin of error.
Coffee--Although considerable progress has occurred in recent years in
all sectors of the monetary economy, coffee remains its mainstay. In normal
years, coffee accounts for 50 to 60 percent of the country's total exports,
by value, and taxes on coffee are an important source of Government revenue.
In addition, approximately one-fourth of the total population derives part
or all of its livelihood from coffee production or related activities. Most
of the coffee is grown by farmers engaged primarily in subsistence agriculture.
Annual harvested production of coffee, according to official USDA esti-
mates, is currently around 100,000 metric tons (table 2), or nearly double
the 1956-60 average. Actual production is difficult to determine, partly
because a significant share of the coffee comes from wild stands and estimates
of domestic consumption vary widely. At present, some of the berries picked
fail to reach the market because of the poor condition of roads and the
unfavorable local price the coffee may bring.
According to official Ethiopian statistics, published in the Government's
latest Statistical Abstract, coffee production is about 50 percent higher
than the amount estimated by USDA. On the other hand, quantities inspected
by Ethiopia's National Coffee Board as reported in the Ethiopian Statistical
Abstract averaged only 84,500 metric tons a year in 1963-66. That amount
represents quantities available commercially for both the domestic and the
foreign markets. Some Ethiopians believe that annual output could reach
400,000 tons if there were access roads to more of the wild stands.

Exports of coffee increased considerably through 1965, when they were

double the 1956-60 annual exports. Though coffee prices had increased sub-
stantially from the low levels reached in 1961-63, the total value of coffee
exports was only about seven-eighths higher in 1965 than the average for
1956-60. As the value of coffee began to fall again, minimum export prices
were fixed by the Government in 1966; this, however, resulted primarily in a
drop in exports in 1966 which continued in 1967, although the minimum export
price had been lifted.
Under the International Coffee Agreement, Ethiopia was allocated a total
export quota of 73,810 metric'tons for the coffee year October 1967-
September 1968. Additional sales may be made to countries not participating
in the agreement; in 1966/67, these sales amounted to 4,962 tons. The United
States buys between 65 percent and 75 percent of Ethiopia's annual coffee
exports; consequently, not only do Ethiopia's export earnings depend heavily
on a single commodity but on a single market as well. West Germany, Italy,
and Saudi Arabia are other markets of some importance. Coffee exports are
expected to continue to trend upward over the next several years, but will
probably represent a smaller share of the country's total exports, due in
part to anticipated potash exports, scheduled to start in the early 1970's.

18
 Table 2.--Ethiopia: Coffee--harvested production and exports,
1956-60 and 1961-65 averages, and years 1961-68

Harvested
Period or year
production !/ Exports y

- - - - - 1,000 metric tons

1956-60 average • • • 57 44
1961-65 average • • • 89 68
1961 • • • • • • • • 77 56
1962 .• • • • • .• 86 62
1963 • • • ..• • • 89 66
1964 • • .• .• • • 96 70
1965 ..• • • 99 88
1966 • ...• .• • 92 73
1967 • • • • . . • • 106 y 68

1968 • • • • . . y 102 n.a •

n.a. =
not available.
1/ Harvest beginning November of previous year and extending
in~o January of years shown.
l/ Trade for 1956-61, year beginning December 11 of previous
years; from 1962, year beginning January 11 of years shown.
y Preliminary estimate.
Sources: (20) for production; (~) for trade.

Most of the coffee harvest comes from the southwest, where the trees
grow well almost anywhere at elevations of 1,700 to 2 1 000 meters; Kefa and
Sidamo Provinces are the leading producing areas. Flowering of tHe trees
takes place from mid-January until the end of April. The berries are
harvested from November through January. Coffee grown in Ethiopia is of the
Arabica variety. Arabica coffee is thought to be indigenous to Ethiopia, .
but it was introduced into Europe by the Arabs and thereby was named Arabica.
The word coffee is believed by some to be derived from Kefa Province's name.
Coffee is attacked in Ethiopia by berry and stem borers, green scale,
brown blight, and leaf rust, although widespread damage has never been
reported.
19
 Most of Ethiopia's coffee is grown on small farms or is gathered from
accessible wild stands; in either case, the harvest by an individual farming
unit is generally small. Perhaps one-tenth of total production comes from
coffee plantations.
In Sidamo, farmers shade coffee trees with false banana trees (fig. 7).
Planted coffee trees in general receive a minimum of care on small farms,
where improper harvesting and drying often result in a product of relatively
poor quality. The berries are usually dried on the farm (fig. 8) and sold to
local buyers, who resell their accumulated stocks through one or more middle-
men to a wholesale trader or exporter's representative; many of these mer-
chants operate processing factories. The coffee is then bagged and shipped
to the final collecting centers. A large, modern bean sorting and mixing
plant began operations in 1967.
Most coffee for export is transported by truck to Addis Ababa, and then
by rail to the main port of export, Djibouti, in the French Territory of
Afars and Issas. A relatively large amount is trucked to the Ethiopian port
of Assab.

BN-33260

Figure 7.--Ethiopian coffee trees shaded by false banana.

20
 1098/73

Figure 8. --A pile of freshly picked coffee beans in foreground,

ready to be spread on the ground for sun drying. In
the background the final dried product.

The national Coffee Board, established in 1957, supervises the cof fee
industry, but it has mainly been concerned with improving the quality of the
product by means of instruction on the preferred methods of harvesting and
processing. In view of the world market's oversupply of coffee, expansion
of production in Ethiopia is not being promoted. No program to support
producer prices for coffee is operated by the board or any other agency in
Ethiopia.

Grains--Two-thirds of Ethiopia's total arable land is planted to grains,

mainly teff, which, according to published statistics, accounts for nearly as
much land as all other grains combined; sorghum, barley, corn, and wheat
follow in that order. M st of the grain o tput is consumed as food by the
producer and his family.

21
 Total annual production of grains, which has reportedly increased during
the past two decades along with the growth in population, is now estimated at
some 5 million metric tons (table 3). However, Ethiopia has been a small net
importer of grain in most years since the mid-1950's, whereas it was a small
net exporter during and in the years following World War II. Although net
imports of grain are generally small, imports of wheat, mostly as flour, were
Ethiopia's leading agricultural import in 1966, ahead of cotton. A large
part of the grain and flour imports comes from the United States under
P.L. 480 (u.s. Public Law 480--Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance
Act of 1954).
Although Ethiopia has been a net importer of grain, quantities produced
locally would probably be sufficient to meet domestic requirements if the
grain could be moved economically and in large enough quantities from
Ethiopia's grain-surplus areas in the interior to the deficit areas, mainly
in the north. Because of the deficit areas' proximity to the sea and the
inadequacy of transportation between the north an~ the interior, it has often
been easier and cheaper to import grain than to move it within the country.
The Ethiopian Grain Corporation, a quasi-Government agency, is charged
with promoting the improvement of grain marketing. The corporation, which
was estimated to have handled between 3 and 5 percent of the grain entering
commercial channels in 1966/67, is becoming increasingly capable of moving
considerable amounts of grain, purchased directly from producers, from sur-
plus to deficit areas. It is not intended, however, that the corporation
should gain a monopoly over the grain trade, now consisting of several
thousand merchants.
The wickerwork silos for storing grain (fig. 9) now in general use on
farms do not provide adequate protection against weather and pests, and as
much as a fourth of the grain stored on farms is lost. Adequate farm storage
facilities would doubtless add considerably to Ethiopia's total food supply
and would also add to the quantities of grain available for marketing, since
supplies moving to market come almost entirely from production by subsistence
farmers in excess of family needs.
Teff, or teff lovegrass (Eragrostis abyssinica), an annual indigenous
grass with a tiny grain, is Ethiopia's principal and preferred food grain.
Several species of teff are grown in other countries for hay or pasture.
Although white teff is preferred in Ethiopia and has a higher market price
than the red variety» most farmers plant mixtures of the two, partly because
pure seed is not available to them. The grain can be grown throughout most
of the country, even in areas with a relatively brief rainy period, because
it has a short growing season. On the plateau the crop grows well at alti-
tudes ranging from 1,700 to 3,000 meters. Planting generally takes place at
the beginning of the big rains; the seed is broadcast by hand on plowed ground,
and is covered by driving sheep back and forth over the area. Harvesting
takes place mainly in October and November but lasts until April in the
higher altitudes. Yields for the country as a whole average 5 to 6 quintals
per hectare, but in some areas they are as high as 15 quintals. For use as
feed, 20 to 25 metric tons of green fodder are obtained per hectare.

22
 Table 3.--Ethiopia: Grains--area, production, and net trade, 1961-67

Crop, by area, . . .. . . . .
Eroduction 2 and trade . 1961 :
1962
. 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967
.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,000 hectares - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
.
Area:
Teff ~ ........
Sorghum !/• •.•••. :
: 3,260
1,329
3,316
1,351
3,380
1,375
3,384
1,384
3,390
1,400
3,390
1,421
n.a.
n.a.
Barley
Corn . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
:
:
Wheat • • • • • • • • • :
935
744
364
950
758
371
968
772
380
970
776
390
982
790
411
990
804
431
n.a.
n.a.
n.a.
Total area e • e e II '! 6,632 6,746 6,875 6,904 6,973 7,036 n.a.

. - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,000 metric tons - - - - - - - - - -

Production
Teff ~.Y. . . . . . .:
Sorghum • • • • • • • • :
1,793
1,064
1,824
1,081
1,859
1,100
1,895
1,121
1,898 1,932
1,165
2,080
1,230
!'0
w
Barley
Corn
. . . . .
......... .. . .:
. 748
670
760
682
774
695
786
714
1,134
805
727
822
756
850
780
Wheat • • • • • • • • • 255 260 266 277 292 315 300
Total production .. : 4,530
!
4,607 4,694 4,793 4,856 4,990 w 5,240
Net trade: 4/
Wheat flour and wheat • : +3 +7 +5 +9 +25 +46 n.a.
Other grains ......
Total net trade • • • :
-1
+2
-2
+5
-5
0
~ +1
+26
+12 n.a •
n.a.
+9 +58
n.a. = not available.
!/ Includes small amounts of millet.
~ Harvest beginning in the fall of the previous year and extending into the years shown.
~ As reported in source. Actual production of all grains, however, is believed to be lower than in
1965, because of reported drought conditions and shortage of grain in large areas of the country.
if Trade for 1961, beginning December 11, 1960; from 1962, year beginning January 11 of years shown.
+ = imports; - =
exports. Flour and flour preparations shown in terms of grain equivalents.
~/Less than 500 tons (imports).

Source: (~) for 1961-66; preliminary estimates for 1967.

 BN-33263

Figure 9 .--A typical Ethiopian farmstead among eucalyptus trees. Teff

is stored in thatched structure at left; firewood is stacked
in center; thatched huts at right are living quarters.
(Photo by Africa and Middle East Branch, Foreign Regional
Analysi s Di vision.)

Most of the teff produced in Ethiopia is ground into flour at home,

using a hand - operated stone mill; some is ground in crude mills on a custom
basis, and a much smaller amount is ground by modern grinders. Teff flour
is used to make a very popular flat, limp bread called injera.

Sorghums and millets are staple foods in the drier parts of Ethiopia.
The combined production of the two is reported under sorghum in table 3, as
separate data are not available.

Many kinds of grain sorghums (g eneral~y called durra in Ethiopia) are

grown; a high percentage of 'the crop is tne tall, crookneck type known as
milo or milo maize in other countries. Some are dual - purpose types, providing
other products as well as grain . Sweet-stalked sorghums are popular for their
sugar content. Fiber sorghum or broomcorn provides s traw for brooms. Forage
s or ghums, primarily the sudans, grow wild throughout the country.

Grain sorghum grows well in the low, hot zones of Ethiopia and at eleva -
tions up to 2,500 meters. The· crop is planted from March through May. The
var ieties grown in the country generally require 7 to 8 months to mature.
Aft er the grain is threshed the stalks are used for fuel, as building material
f or fences and for walls of farmsteads, and as livestock feed. Sorghum, like
other grai ns, is threshed by the hooves of animals , which are driven back and

24
and forth across the threshing area. Sorghum is used for making injera. It
is also eaten roasted and is used to make a kind of home-brewed beer.

Pearlmillet (Pennisetum glaucum syn. E· spicatum; typhoideum) is grown

on the Ethiopian Plateau. Most of it is used by the farm family to make mush
or unleavened bread. Some is used industrially for making starch and alcohol.

Ragimillet (Eleusine coracana) is an emergency crop sometimes grown in

extremely dry periods when other crops fail; it provides a small but depend-
able yield. It is sown in November and December, at altitudes of 900 to 2,000
meters, and is used for both food and forage.

The combined area in barley, corn, and wheat is about two-thirds the area
in teff, but production amounts to about nine-tenths of the output of teff.

Barley is grown throughout Ethiopia at elevations of over 2,000 meters.

The bulk of the crop is planted from May to July and harvested in November
and December. Barley is generally ground into flour, but the grain is some=
times soaked in water, crushed, and mixed with other foods or used in soup.
The grain is also widely used by farmers to make beer.

Wheat grows successfully in Ethiopia at elevations of 1,900 to 3,000

meters. The highlands south of Awash supply a large part of the needs of five
commercial flour mills in Shawa. There were a total of 11 commercial mills
in Ethiopia in 1966; in 1965, working at two-thirds of capacity, they reported
a total production of nearly 38,000 metric tons of flour.

Durum, used in most countries for macaroni products, is one of the

principal bread wheats in Ethiopia. Semihard wheat produces an excellent
flour for home use and for pastries. All Ethiopian wheat is what is commonly
called spring wheat, as the climate is not cold enough to grow the winter
varieties common to the Temperate Zone.

Wheat is planted in June or later, during the rainy season, and is

harvested in November and December, in the dry season; it is piled like
cordwood before threshing.

Ethiopia's imports of grain and grain products consist mainly of wheat

flour. The United States (through P.L. 480) and the United Nations (through
the FAO's World Food Program) have supplied a considerable share of total
imports. West Germany has provided most of the commercial imports.

Dry legumes--Production of dry legumes has been fairly stable in recent

years (table 4). Ranking after grains as food, dry legumes are also important
as exports, which go principally to Ceylon, Japan, the Arabian Peninsula, and
West European countries.

Planting and harvesting seasons for dry legumes are similar to those for
grains, except that chickpeas are harvested in February and March. Legumes
are grown almost exclusively for food in Ethiopia. They are usually ground
and made into a highly spiced paste called wot; sometimes pieces of meat are
added to the paste. Wot eaten with injera, the local bread, is the national
dish and staple food of most Ethiopians.

25
 Table 4.--Ethiopia: Dry legumes--area, production, and net exports, 1956-60 and
1961-65 averages, and years 1961-66

Crop 1956-60 : 1961-65 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 !I

average : average

- 1,000 hectares
Area:
Chickpeas • • • • • <'$ : n.a. 272 266 270 275 275 276 277
Field peas • e • • • • : n.a. 125 122 124 126 127 128 128
Broadbeans • • • • • • : n.a. 116 110 113 115 118 124 126
Lentils • • • • • • • : n.a. 155 150 152 155 157 159 163
Dry beans • • • • • • : . n.a. 88 86 87 88 88 89 90
Total area • • • • • : n.a. 756 734 746 759 765 776 784
- 1 1 000 metric tons -
Production: ~
Chickpeas • • • • • • 150 165 160 162 165 168 168 172
~ Field peas • • • • • • 124 113 110 112 113 114 115 118
Broadbeans • • • • • • 93 104 100 101 103 106 113 116
Lentils • • • • • • • 76 93 90 91 93 94 96 98
Dry beans • • • • • • 66 62 60 61 62 62 63 65
Total production • • 509 537 520 527 536 544 555 569

Net exports 3/ • • • 49 ~ 69 80 68 66 60 n.a. 68

!/ Preliminary.
~ Harvest beginning in the fall of the previous year and extending into the years shown.
~ Trade for 1956-61, year beginning December 11 of years shown; from 1962, year beginning
January 11 of years shown.
1/ 4-year average.
Sources: (~) for 1961-63 area and production data and 1964 trade; (ll) for other area and production
data; and reports of the American Embassy, Addis Ababa, for other trade data.
 Table 5.--Ethiopia: Oilseeds--area, production, and net exports, 1956-60 and
1961-65 averages, and years 1961-66

• 1956-60 : 1961-65 : . . . . .
Crop
· average : average :
1961 .
. 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,000 hectares - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
. -
Area:
Niger seed . . . . . . . n.a • 350 341 347 350 355 358 368
Linseed . . . . . . . . n.a • 104 100 102 104 106 108
Sesame seed . . . . . .
111
n.a. 77 75 76 77 78 79 82
Sunflower seed • • • • : n.a. 53 50 51 52 54 55 56
Other . . . . . . . . . n.a. 65 63 62 66 67 69 68
Total area • • • • • : n.a. 649 629 638 649 660 669 685

- 1,000 metric tons - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Production: 1/
Niger seed
Linseed
. . . .:
. . .
. . .. .. .. .. .. .. n.a.
49
210
52
205
50
208
51
210
52
213
53
215
54
228
55
~
Sesame seed 36 31 30 31 31 31 32 33
Sunflower seed • • • • : 15 27 25 26 26 27 27 28
Other .........
Total production • • :
n.a •
n.a.
36
356
34
344
37
353
35
354
36
360
40
368
48
392

Net exports ~ • • • • • : 46 66 46 57 85 76 68 54

n.a. =not available.

!/ Harvest beginning in the fall of the previous year and extending into the years shown.
~ Trade for 1956-61, year beginning December 11 of previous years; from 1962, year beginning
January 11 of years shown. Does not include seed equivalent of annual exports of approximately
700 tons of oil.

Sources: (~) for 1961-64 area and production data and 1964-65 trade; (ll) for other area and
production data; and reports of the American Embassy, Addis Ababa, for other trade data.
 Chickpeas, the leading dry legume, are grown extensively on the plateau.
Many varieties of dry beans are grown east of Addis Ababa. Broadbeans do well
at higher elevations, and grow on poor soils where other crops do not thrive.
The field peas grown in Ethiopia are the kind called Canadian field peas in
North America; they are grown mostly in the northern and central parts of the
plateau, sometimes as a catch crop. Field peas are usually eaten as a green
vegetable but are sometimes used as a dry legume. The vines are fed to
livestock.

Oilseeds and oil-~Although oilseeds, in terms of value, are second among

Ethiopia's export crops, their share in value of total exports is much smaller
than coffee's, amounting to only 8 percent in 1966. Total production of oil-
seeds expanded in recent years (table 5). Exports increased 43 percent from
1956-60 to 1961-65, on the average, but have declined again since 1963; the
principal foreign markets are Yugoslavia, Italy, Greece, and Japan. Most
oilseeds are exported as seed. Exports of oil are negligible, but exports of
oilseed cake expanded from 12,700 metric tons in 1958 to 30,700 tons in 1966.

Many kinds of oilseeds, both edible and inedible, are grown in Ethiopia,
but nigerseed (also called nug, nueg, noog, or nuek) accounts for more than
half the area in oilseeds and for about three-fifths of total production.
Next in importance are linseed and sesame seed.

Nigerseed, an indigenous crop, is widely grown on the plateau; the

country produces about 95 percent of the world output of this crop. Flax is
grown in Ethiopia primarily for the linseed, which has traditionally been the
major oilseed export, by value, but was surpassed in 1965 and 1966 by sesame
seed.

Ethiopia, with an output of about 5,000 metric tons a year, is the major
African producer of rapeseed. Other cultivated oilseeds include sunflower
seed, peanuts, castor beans, cottonseed, and rapeseed.

Most of the oilseeds are grown by farmers producing primarily for sub-
sistence. About four-fifths of the oilseed output for local consumption is
crushed in traditional cottage industries. Small amounts go to modern mills
for production of oil, soap, and oilcake.

In 1965 the Ethiopian Government set up the Oilseeds Development Company

for promoting production and exports of nigerseed, linseed, and rapeseed.
Minimum support prices are set by the company for these three seeds, if they
meet certain standards of purity.
Sugarcane and sugar=-Sugarcane is grown in many areas of Ethiopia, and
stalks are frequently sold in local markets for chewing; however, two planta-
tions in the Awash Valley, east of Addis Ababa, account for all the commercial
production of sugarcane and refined sugar (fig. 10). Commercial production of
sugar began in 1954. Output per year (September-August) expanded as follows
(in thousands of metric tons):

28
 BN-33262

Figure 10.--Harvesting sugarcane at one of the two large cane plantations

in the Aw~sh Valley. (Photo by Africa and Middle East
Branch, Foreign Regional Analysis Division.)

1954/55-1958/59 average • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 25.7

1959/60-1963/64 average • .... .. • • • • • • • • • 47.5

1964/65 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . .. • • • • • 61.7

1965/66 • • . . . . . . . . . . . • • • . . . • • • •
• 68.9

1966/67 • • . . • • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76.9
The sugar is "plantation white," or 99.93 percent refined. Domestic produc-
tion now meets most of Ethiopia's sugar needs. Plans are underway for estab-
lishing a new sugarcane plantation, with sugar production scheduled to start
at the end of 1969. In the sugarcane plantations now in operation, 14 to 22
months are required between cuttings, which take place from November to July.
Cane yields increased from 198 metric tons per hectare in 1962/63 to 215 tons
in 1965/66. The sugar content of the cane is about 11 to 12 percent.

Inedible molasses produced as a byproduct of sugar refining is generally

discarded in Ethiopia, but a small amount is used by the plantations to
fertilize the cane.

Cotton--Production of cotton, a traditional crop in Ethiopia, has

increased considerably since World Wa r II in response to the needs of the
expanding textile industry which, with its estimated 15,000 employees, absorbs

29
between one-third and two~fifths of the total labor force in the manufacturing
sector.
Domestic production of lint cotton in 1967 was estimated at nearly 7 1 000
metric tons, or nearly three times that of a decade earlier. Nevertheless,
cotton production does not meet the needs of the seven or eight existing mills,
and a large part of their requirements are met by imports. The United States
was the major supplier in 1965 and 1966. Imports from the United States are
made through the P.L. 480 program. Imports from all sources for the latest
years available are shown below {in metric tons):

1963 • • • o e • • • • • • • • • • • •

1964 •• ..... .. . . . .. . .. ... 7,190

1965 . . . ...... ....... 3,250

1966 • • • ......... ....

• • e 4,508

Ethiopian exports of cotton fiber and processed cotton are negligible.

Small producers account for about four-fifths of the area in cotton,
which is about 41 1 500 hectares (over 100,000 acres). Two large foreign con-
cession holders account for a large share of the area in plantations. The
large plantations produce cotton under irrigation, but most of the crop is
rain-fed.
The country has a good potential for increasing the production of cotton,
and several plans are being made or implemented for its expansion.
Vegetables=-Per capita consumption of fresh vegetables is low in Ethiopia.
Near the larger cities, some farmers grow vegetables as a cash crop. Sweet
corn, tomatoes, potatoes, and fresh beans grow well during the dry season;
root crops and leafy vegetables grow best in the rainy season. Where water
is available, vegetables are grown the year round.
Commonly eaten fresh vegetables are potatoes, peppers, onions, beans and
peas, and sweet corn. Many other vegetables, including artichokes, asparagus,
cabbage, a kind of kale, garlic, and taro {grown in the south), are raised in
Ethiopia.
Limited amounts of tomatoes and green vegetables are canned commercially.
Exports of fresh vegetables have a very good potential, as vegetables
could be grown to supply the European winter market. Currently, very small
amounts go to neighboring countries and Italy.
False banana--In parts of the south and southwest, the false banana
(Musa ensete) replaces grain as the staple food. In Sidlmo, an average family
reportedly cultivates from 300 to 500 trees and harvests one-third of them a
ye9r 1 or 15 to 20 trees per person.
 Portions of the trunk, leafstalk, and roots of the banana tree are used
to make a fermented, starchy flour. The time required to extract and prepare
the material varies from a few weeks to a year; the longer the fermentation
period the better the product. The flour is used to make a local-type bread.
The banana-like fruit of the tree is useless.
Fiber from the tree is used to make rope and bags. One tree yields about
1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of fiber; total annual fiber production is estimated
at 12 1 000 metric tons.
Chat--Also called ~~ gat, or khat, chat {Catha edulis) is a green
shrub which may grow into tree size. The juice from its leaves and tender
twigs resembles adrenaline in its physiological action. It is popular among
Moslem farmers of Ethiopia and in several nearby countries. The most common
way of extracting the juice is by chewing the leaves, sometimes for several
hours. Chat grows wild throughout most of Ethiopia, but commercial production
is concentrated in the Harar-Diredawa area.
Production of chat leaves is probably around 6 1 000 metric tons a year.
Exports, once a relatively important source of foreign exchange, have been
declining; they dropped from 5 percent of total recorded exports by value in
1962-63 to less than 1 percent in 1966. Most of the exports of chat go to
East African countries and to the Arabian Peninsula.
Other crops--Leaf tobacco output was about 1 1 400 metric tons a year during
1964-66. Imports, manufacture, and domestic sale of tobacco are a Government
monopoly. Imports in 1966 1 mostly of manufactured tobacco, were less than 300
tons; exports consisted of 60 tons of leaf tobacco. Use of tobacco is
disapproved by the Coptic Church, and smoking is not very popular in Ethiopia.
Tea production in Ethiopia is small, but an excellent quality of leaf is
grown in the west and south. The climate in many parts of the country is
favorable for growing tea, and the crop is believed to have considerable
potential. At present, imports of tea are rel~tively important.
Fruits and nuts grow wild in Ethiopia, but only prickly pears and limes
are used to any extent. Planted fruit trees include citrus, bananas, mangoes,
papayas, and avocados. The area in orchard fruits is estimated at less than
5,000 hectares and output at less than 60,000 metric tons a year.
A variety of herbs and spices grow wild and are cultivated in Ethiopia.
The spices are used primarily to flavor wot. The most important of the spices
grown is red pepper (berbere); production of some 90,000 metric tons a year
meets domestic needs and provides a surplus for export. Red pepper is mainly
a garden crop, often planted on steep or rough ground. Fenugreek is used for
a flavoring as well as a baby food. Leaves and twigs of the gesho plant
(Rhamas pauciflorus) are used locally in the preparation of beer. Other spices
and herbs grown in Ethiopia include caraway, cardamom, cayenne pepper, ginger,
saffron, sage, tamarind, and thyme. Although some of these spices are exported
in small amounts, imports of all spices frequently exceed exports in value.

31
 Most of Ethiopia's needs for bag-making and cordage material are met by
domestic output from false banana, sisal, sansevieria, and the leaves of the
dum palm.
The dum palm, with a nut or fruit similar in shape to that of the oil
palm, grows mostly in Eritrea. Industrial alcohol, about sufficient to meet
the country's needs, is extracted from the husk of the nut. The kernel is
used to make buttons or is crushed and mixed with oilcake for use as animal
feede
Livestock and Livestock Products
The raising of livestock is an important part of Ethiopia's agriculture,
but its role varies with location and type of agriculture. Pastoralism is
the principal or only economic activity of the nomads and seminomads, who, as
already noted, make up perhaps a fifth of the rural population.
Number and breeds--Cattle are the most important livestock in Ethiopia
(table 6). In the highlands, where crop farming is predominant, cattle are
used primarily for plowing and equines serve as pack animals; here, the number
of livestock is limited by the competition of arable land with available
pastureland. Nomads and seminomads keep large herds of cattle, as well as
goats, sheep, and, in the drier areas, camels.
Ethiopia's cattle population, estimated at more than 25 million head, is
the largest reported for any African country. It is difficult, however, to
determine the exact numbers, partly because of movement of so many of the herds
and superstition in some tribes against counting of their cattle. Between 6
and 7 million of the cattle are believed to be working oxen. In the areas of
settled farming, over a fourth of the total number of cattle are breeding
cows; in the southern provinces the share is more than one-third.
Nearly all Ethiopian cattle are Zebus (Bos indicus) of various regional
types; most of them are triple-purpose animars-(work, meat, and milk). The
Boran type, found in the south and southeast, is probably the best beef animal
in East Africa, and offers good prospects for increasing beef production. The
Fugara, Adal, Barca, and Black Highlands cattle are also found in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian cattle have low yields of meat and milk. Live weight of adult cattle
brought to the slaughterhouse is only about 280 kilograms (600 pounds) and
carcass yield is about 48 percent; average milk production per cow is not above
500 liters (132 gallons) per lactation period. The regeneration rate of herds
is poor, partly because of the low rate of calving among herds and partly
because of the high mortality rate among calves. Also, calves are slow in
reaching maturity; a heifer usually produces her first calf when 4 years old.
Some work has been underway, with u.s. and FAO assistance, to improve the
quality of cattle in Ethiopia. Projects include the development of the Boran
as a beef type and the Black Highland for milk production. A very few bulls,
including Holsteins, Ayrshires, and Brown Swiss, have been imported by selected
farms for crossbreeding with local cows. Friesian heifers, bred at four or
five breed-improvement stations, have also been distributed. Frozen semen has
been imported from the United States and the United Kingdom as a means of

32
Table 6.--Ethiopia: Number of livestock, 1959-63 avex·age and years 1963-66

Kind 1959-63
average 1963 1964 1965 1966

------ - - - - - Thousand - ---- ------

Cattle:
Total • • • • 25,008 25,147 25,270 25,425 25,604
Cows • • • • 7,546 7,279 7,310 7,340 7,373
Sheep • • • • • n.a • 11,482 11,638 11,800 11,971
Goats • • • .• n.a • 10,769 10,866 10,953 ll,030
Donkeys • • • • 3,700 3,730 3,745 3,760 3,775
Mules • • • • • 1,301 1,320 1,330 1,340 1,350
Horses • .• • 1,301 1,320 1,330 1,340 1,350
Camels • • • . 930 940 946 951 958
Poultry • • • • !I 40,500 40,500 41,500 42,500 43,500
n.a. =
not available.
!/ 3-year average.
Source: (1)

upgrading the livestock herds, and some Ethiopians have been trained abroad
in methods of artificial insemination.
About 12 million sheep are found throughout Ethiopia from the semidesert
area to the high elevations of the plateau. They-generally are small animals,
of mixed fat-tailed types, averaging 36 to 41 kilograms each. One thin-
tailed type has long, black hair which is shorn and woven into cloth for home
use; most of the other types produce no usable wool or hair, and are raised
for meat only.
In the mid-1960's, goats in Ethiopia numbered perhaps 11 million head.
These small, hardy animals can thrive on the sparse vegetation of the desert,
and it is in these areas that most of them are raised. Goats are milked by
the nomads in the east; elsewhere they are generally raised only for meat.
Donkeys, horses, and mules move a large share of the goods and produce
in Ethiopia, as there are few roads suitable for motor transport or even
carts. These animals are seldom used for field work. Donkeys, the most
numerous of the equines, numbered nearly 3.8 million in 1966J they are small

33
animals, seldom weighing over 150 kilograms each~ The hardy, indigenous
horse shows some resemblar1ce to the Arabian horse, but is much smaller. There
were about 1.4 million hor·ses in the country in 1966 and about the same number
of mules. Jacks have been imported for raising mules, and some areas produce
fairly good mules.

There are nearly a million camels in Ethiopia; most of them are kept on
the desert. They are used as pack animals, for riding, and to provide meat
and milk. In the desert, there may be several hundred camels in a herd.

Hogs number only about 12,000 and are practically all located in the
vicinity of Addis Ababa and Asmara, where they are raised mainly for con-
sumption by the foreign residents of these cities, since few Ethiopians eat
pork.

Poultry, mainly chickens, numbered an estimated 43.5 million in 1966.

Most farm families in settled areas keep from 4 to 10 hens and may derive a
little cash income from the sale of eggs. Native ~hickens are small and the
average output of eggs per hen is 25 to 40 per year, compared with over 200
in the United States. Some chicks (Brown Leghorns, White Leghorns, Rhode
Island Reds, and New Hampshires) have been imported and distributed to farmers
by the extension service. Work has also been done on upgrading the native
types of chickens through adequate feeding and better management.
Honeybees are kept by many Ethiopian farmers, and honey is a traditional
sweetener in the Ethiopian diet. Wild bees provide perhaps half of the honey
produced. The honey is usually collected by smoking out the hive; this is
an unfavorable practice as it kills the bees and lowers the quality of the
honey and wax.
Livestock management--Livestock in Ethiopia must subsist almost entirely
on natural pastures and stubble, but working stock receives some supplemental
feed during heavy work periods. Feedstuffs used include corn and corn fodder,
grain sorghum, pea and bean vines, and grain straw. Limited amounts of
byproducts from grain mills and oilseed-crushing operations are also fed to
the animals. Temperatures are moderate in most of the country so that grass
and other forage can grow throughout the year, but vegetation dries up in the
dry season and the feed supply becomes critical; during these periods, there
is loss of weight in adult animals and frequent death among young ones. Water
for livestock is g1enerally scarce, especially during the dry season; few wells
or ponds have been provided. In some regions the number of animals far exceeds
the grazing capacity of the land. Areas around water sources may be greatly
overgrazed while other areas remain unused. Constant grazing does not permit
the recovery of the natural grassland.
Most cattle ~>uffer from a lack of salt, which is a luxury even for the
a·verage farmer's own use.
Fences are rare in Ethiopia, even around crops, although thorny bushes
are sometimes grown as barriers. Livestock are privately owned, but they are
grazed on a communal basis and are allowed to run together and to breed freely.
One herder, often a small boy, may take care of the stock of perhaps 10 owners;
at the end of the day the cattle are returned to each farmer's corral near his
34
home. Ownership of large numbers of animals, especially cattle, is a matter
of prestige; consequently, herds are not culled of old or the poorer grade
animals.
Among the nomadic and seminomadic tribes there is often competition
between groups for avatlable water supplies and grazing. These pastoralists
sometimes move their herds across the border to nearby countries in periods
of drought.
A Regional Livestock Development Program has been established, with AID's
assistance, to develop commercial livestock production and marketing in parts
of southern Ethiopia. The plan calls for distribution of breeding stock to
selected cattlemen, and provision of various facilities and services for the
livestock industry.
Improvement of livestock and livestock products (except milk) is one of
the functions of the Livestock and Meat Board, established by the Government
in 1964.
Rinderpest, contagious pleuropneumonia, anthrax, blackleg, hermorrhagic
septicemia, and liver flukes are widespread among cattle. Internal parasites
are especially serious because the poor condition of most of the animals
weakens their resistance to the organisms. A million lambs and kids are
estimated to die yearly from internal parasites, and there is a regular loss
of horses, mules, and camels from African horsesickness and trypanosomiasis.
Annual mortality of sheep and goats is estimated at 2 million animals. In
some small areas of the country, active programs for the control of animal
pests have been carried out.
The Department of Veterinary Services of the Ministry of Agriculture has
prepared an immunization plan which, if successfully carried out, will provide
within a decade country-wide protection to animals against rinderpest and
pleuropneumonia. The program also calls for early detection of other diseases
such as foot-and-mouth disease, anthrax, blackleg, and pasteurellosis, and for
work against trypanosomiasis, tick-borne diseases, tuberculosis, brucellosis,
and rabies.
Livestock products--Beef, mutton, and goat meat are the principal meats
produced and eaten in Ethiopia. Chickens, camels, and game also provide some
meat. The large livestock population should permit a relatively high per
capita consumption of meat; however, so much of the supply comes from sources
outside the slaughterhouses that estimates of total annual meat production
vary from about 370,000 to 580,000 metric tons.
Annual exports of beef have been increasing in recent years--from 1 1 756
metric tons in 1963 to 4 1 141 ton~ in 1966; exports of other kinds of fresh
meat are negligible. Exports of small amounts of canned meat and meat prepara=
tions began in 1962. Recorded exports of live animals in 1963-66 averaged (in
meat equivalent): cattle, 1,000 tons; sheep and goats, 600 tons; and poultry,
45 tons. Live animals go mainly to Saudi Arabia; the United Arab Republic
(Egypt} and South Yemen are the only other markets. Frozen meat is sold to
Spain, Gibraltar, Bulgaria, and Egypt. Canned meat goes mostly to Israel and
Italy.
35
 Milk production comes mainly from cows, but goats and camels are milked
to some extent in desert areas.
Estimates of the production of cows' milk range from 700 1 000 to 2 million
metric tons a year. Most of the milk that is not used fresh goes into ghee
(clarified butter), which is usually consumed by the farm family but in some
areas is sold to traders in small amounts. Part of the milk output is used to
make a cheese~like product, mainly for home use. Adult Ethiopians generally
do not drink milk.
Dairying takes place, on a small scale only, in the vicinities of Addis
Ababa and Asmara. Production of pasteurized milk reached 3 1 200 metric tons in
1963/64, and has apparently been increasing since then. FAO and the United
Nations Children's Fund have assisted in a project to collect, treat, and
distribute milk in Addis Ababa.
Dairy products make up less than 1 percent of total imports, by value.
Ethiopia is normally a small net exporter of ghee, but very little ghee was
exported in 1966, whereas more than 2 1 000 metric tons of butter were imported,
mainly from the Netherlands.
Hides and skins accounted for more than three-fourths of the value of
livestock and livestock products exported in 1963-66. In 1966, exports were
as follows: hides, 10,065 metric tons; goatskins, 4.8 million pieces; sheep-
skins, 3.4 million pieces. Only a small share of the hides and skins are
obtained from slaughterhouses, and a large proportion are dried on the ground.
The export value of these items could be increased considerably through better
methods of preparation. Some improvement is being instigated by the Livestock
and Meat Board. Hides and skins are used in Ethiopia for various types of
bags, mats, and rugs, and are made into footwear, pack saddles, harnesses, and
thongs.

Annual production of eggs averaged about 72,000 metric tons in 1962-65.

Combined exports of shelled and liquid eggs generally average 500 to 1 1 000 tons
a year. Some large eggs, called "Point Four" or "American," are used locally
for hatching.
Civet, a musk-like substance obtained from the civet cat (Civettictis
civetta), is used in making perfume. The animals are either bred or hunted.
Civet exports are small and of virtually no significance to the Ethiopian
economy, but they are of some importance in the perfume trade.
Trade Patterns
Ethiopia's exports consist almost entirely of agricultural products.
During 1960-66, coffee alone accounted for 57 percent of the total value of
exports; livestock products (mainly hides and skins) 14 percent; oilseeds
(primarily sesame seed and linseed) 9 percent; and dry legumes 8 percent
(table 7).
The United States is by far Ethiopia's leading market for agricultural
products, mainly because of its heavy purchases of Ethiopian coffee. In 1966,

36
 Table ?.--Ethiopia: Principal agricultural and total exports, 1960-66 l/
L-Value, c.i.f., in million Ethiopian dollars 2/_/
Commodity 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966

Coffee • • • • • • • • • 1 104.8 93.6 107.1 110.9 158.8 188.1 155.7

Hides and skins • • • • 19.3 25.1 24.7 22.0 21.5 22.8 36.3
Other livestock products 5.7 3.6 2.4 4.6 9.0 11.4 10.6
Oilseeds • • • • • • 16.7 14.7 19.6 28.3 26.6 24.8 21.8
Dry legumes • • • • • • 22.1 17.8 16.3 15.5 13.4 14.9 21.1
Total principal
agricultural exports 168.6 154.8 170.1 181.3 229.3 262.0 245.5

Total exports 192.6 188.6 196.2 219.5 259.2 283.0 269.2

1/ Trade for 1960-61, year beginning December 11 of previous years; from 1962, year
beginning January 11 of years shown.
2/ Eth$1.00 = US$0.40.
Sources: (~); (1), 1965; and La), 1966.

Table a.--Ethiopia: Agricultural exports, by commodity and country or

area of destination, 1966 l(

L-Value, f.o.b., in million Ethiopian dollars 2/_/

=united: EEC :Near:Other=Africa: United 1 Share of
Commodity =st t :It 1 ;oth :East: A i : ~~ :K. d :Other: Total total, by
: a es: a y: er: y : s a: :ill : 1ng om: : commodity
Percent
Coffee • • • • 113.4 5.8 10.0 7.6 4.4 5.0 2.1 7.4 155.7 58.7
Hides and skins 2.9 10.6 6.8 1.3 0.1 0.3 7.4 6.9 36.3 13.7
Other livestock
products 0 3.3 0.5 3.6 0 0.9 0 2.3 10.6 4.0
Oil seeds 2.7 2.1 1.9 5.9 5.7 1.0 1.4 1.1 21.8 8.2
Dry legumes y 0.4 5.5 5.0 5.6 2.8 1.4 0.4 21.1 8.0
Other • • • 1.0 2.6 4.6 6.6 0.2 1.5 0.1 3.1 19.7 7.4
Total •• 120.0 24.8 29.3 30.0 16.0 11.5 12.4 21.2 265.2 100.0
Percent of
total, by
destination 45.3 9.4 11.0 11.3 6.0 4.3 4.7 8.0 100.0 ...
l/Year beginning 11 January.
2/Eth$1.00 US$0.40.=
~United Arab Republic included in "Near East."
yLess than Eth$50,000.

Source: (~) •

37
 Table 9. --Ethiopia: Principal agricultural and total imports., 1960-66 l/
L-Value, f.o.b., in million Ethiopian dollars 2/_/
Commodity 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966

Grains and
preparations ~ ~ 2.4 2.1 3.5 6.2 12.7
Cotton, lint • • • • 9.4 6.5 6.8 7.2 9.8 4.5 6.5
Sugar and
preparations ~ ~ 1.9 1.0 1.0 2.6 5.0
Dairy products • z 1.5 1.5 1.8 1.6 1.9 3.7 3.6
Fruits, nuts,
vegetables, and
preparations • • • ~ ~ 1.9 2.1 2.0 2.3 3.0
Tea • • • • • • • 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.9 1.6 2.6
Total principal ----------------------------------------------------------
agricultural
imports • • • .. 16.5 15.7 20.1 20.9 33.4
Total imports • ... 219.3 235.6 257.3 276.1 307.6 375.7 404.3

l/ Trade for 1960-61, year beginning December 11 of previous years; from 19621 year
beginning January 11 of years shown.
2/ Eth$1.00 = US$0.40.
~ Comparable data not available.
Sources: (~); (~), 1965; and (§.) 1 1966.
Tabel 10.--Ethiopia: Agricultural imports, by commodity and country or
area of origin, 1966 l/
L-Value, c.i.f., in million Ethiopian dollars 2/_/
=united: EEC : Other : :Eastern= , Share of
Commodity 'states: West =other:Western: Asia Europe.=.Other:: Total
.=. total, by
: :Germany: : Europe: & commodity
Grains ~ •
Cotton
Sugar ~.
. .. ... ... :
:
3.8
5.4
3.9
0.1
1.5
0.3
0.5
0.1
0.9
0.5
0.7
0
1.4
0.1
12.7
6.5
: ~ 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.3 3.4 0.3 5.0
Dairy products 0.2 0.1 2.6 0.6 ~ ~ 0.1 3.6
Fruits, nuts,
and vege-
tables~ 0.2 0.3 0.7 0.2 1.4 ~ 0.2 3.0 7.6
Tea • ..
Other •
~
0.5
~
0.5
~
1.3
0.1
1.1
21 2.5
1.9
~
0.1
~
0.9
2.6
6.3
6.5
15.8
Total 10.1 5.1 6.8 3.0 7.5 4.2 3.0 39.7 100.0
Percent of
total, by
origin . 25.4 12.8 17.1 7•6 18.9 10.6 7.6 100.0
1/ Year beginning January 11.
2/ Eth$1.00 = US$0.40.
~ Includes preparations.
~ Less than Eth$50,000.
2/ Mainly Ceylon (2.4).
Source: (~).

38
it took 45 percent of total Ethiopian agricultural exports, by value, and 73
percent of all Ethiopian coffee exports (table 8). In the same year, one-
fifth of total Ethiopian farm exports went to EEC countries (including Italy,
the second largest single market); the EEC countries were important markets
for livestock products, oilseeds, and dry legumes. The United Kingdom took
mainly hides and skins. Near East countries are outlets for coffee, livestock
and livestock products, oilseeds, and dry legumes.
Ethiopia's agricultural imports are generally small in value, compared
with agricultural exports. Cotton is normally the leading import but is
exceeded by grains and their preparations in some years (table 9). Sugar and
dairy products are other farm imports of some significance.

In 1966 1 agricultural products made up less than 10 percent of Ethiopia's

total imports. Grains and grain preparations were the principal agricultural
import, accounting for 32 percent of the total value (table 10). Cotton
accounted for another 16 percent and sugar for 13 percent. The shares of
grains and sugar were considerably higher than in most of the past several
years and, conversely, cotton's percentage share was lower. The larger-than~
usual grain imports were partly necessitated by adverse weather conditions,
while larger sugar imports were made in anticipation of a demand somewhat
greater than that which actually materialized. Imports of dairy products
and tea were also sizable. The United States is one of the leading suppliers
of Ethiopian farm imports. In 1966 1 it supplied one-fourth of total farm
imports, by value. It was the leading supplier of cotton and was second to
West Germany for wheat and flour. West Germany (the second leading single
source of imports) and other EEC countries supplied almost 30 percent of total
farm imports. Dairy products came mainly from Western Europe, sugar from
Eastern Europe, and tea from Ceylon.
The closing of the Suez Canal in 1967 has had some disruptive effects on
Ethiopia's foreign trade but apparently has not directly caused significant
drops in exports, or changes in trade patterns. Coffee exports have been
rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope, through the use of coastal freighters
which carry the coffee to ships calling at Mombasa, Kenya, or at Malagasy
ports. Costs of shipments are higher but are being absorbed and spread among
the large number of Ethiopian producers. At the end of 1967 1 exports of fresh
vegetables for the European winter market were transported by sea to the Jordan
port of Al 1 Aqabah. From there, they were trucked to Beirut, Lebanon, for
transshipment to their final destination.
u.s. Trade with Ethiopia
u.s. agricultural exports to Ethiopia are insignificant compared with
its agricultural imports (tables 11 and 12). Most of these exports were made
under various assistance programs of the u.s. Government, mainly under P.L.
480.
Cotton accounted for 54 percent, by value, of all u.s. agricultural
exports to Ethiopia in 1960-67 1 and gr9ins and preparations for 28 percent.
Cotton exports were financed mainly under P.L. 480, Title IV (long-term supply
and dollar credit sales). In December 1967, an additional $2.4 million

39
 Table 11.--u.s. exports to Ethiopia, 1960-67
Lin thousand u.s. dol1arA/
Commodity 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967

Cotton • • • • • • • • • • 2,129 1,014 1,963 1,725 626 1,447 1,805 1,043

Dairy products • • • • • • • • 138 216 331 206 87 128 85 180
Grains and preparations 43 1,384 156 493 270 613 2,531 503
Food for relief or charity •• 0 116 206 179 174 265 292 80
Other agricultural • • • • 59 127 121 141 160 158 284 264
Total agricultural ••• 2,369 2,857 2,777 2,744 1,317 2,611 4,997 2,070

(Under P.L. 480 and other

assistance programs) •• : (703) (2,135) (.!/ 2 1 882) (1,193) (479) (1,950) (3,531) (1,140)
Nonagricultural • • • • • • • : 4,962 8 1 030 20,456 9,277 11 1 150 18,390 10 1 621 20,564

Total exports 7,331 10,887 23,233 12,021 12,467 21,001 15,618 22,634
l/ Seeming excess over total agricultural exports may be due to lags in reporting or other reporting discrepancies.
~ Sources: (18) and (19).
0

Table 12.--u.s. imports from Ethiopia, 1960-67

Lin thousand U.S. dollarA/
Commodity 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967

Coffee • • • • 24,669 29,453 26,577 31,953 49,442 59,747 40,666 47,535

Hides and skins 1,102 778 1,130 1,150 1,696 1,664 1,607 1,655
Beeswax, crude 286 269 317 275 338 333 424 527
Sesame seed • • • • • • 0 0 0 269 476 784 1,436 348
Other • • • • • • • • • • • 160 120 188 125 281 170 270 380
Total agricultural • • • 26,217 30,620 28,212 33,772 52,233 62,698 44,403 50,520
Nonagricultural .. .... 757 786 1,247 1,493 959 831 604 604
Total imports • • • 26,974 31,406 29,459 35,265 53,192 63,529 45,007 51,124

Source: (18).
long-term credit was granted for the purchase of American cotton. Shipments
of grain have been mainly under Title II {emergency relief and economic
development).

Coffee is by far the dominant u.s. import from Ethiopia, accounting for
92 to 96 percent of total agricultural imports, by value, annually during
1960-67. Hides and skins rank second. Imports of sesame seed have become
relatively important in recent years, but dropped drastically in 1967.
Trade Regulations

Licenses are required for all Ethiopian exports, farm and nonfarm alike,
but not for imports except for arms and ammunition. Foreign exchange permits
for payment of imports are generally granted freely; nevertheless, by with-
holding issuance of the foreign exchange permit the Government can control
the volume and origin of imports and, on occasion, it has done so. Highly
protective duties are imposed on a number of items, including meat, sugar,
and wheat flour; other flour and all grains enter duty free.
The Ethiopian customs tariff, unlike that of most African countries, does
not grant preferential treatment to products from any particular country.
Imports or exports, or both, of certain agricultural products are subject to
quality controls and sanitary certification. Imports of tobacco are a
Government monopoly.

AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS

For lack of adequate data it is difficult to define, in statistical terms,

past rates of increase in farm production; nevertheless it seems that in normal
years during most of the past decade, food output has more than kept pace with
the increase in total population.
Increases in the area in crops and in the number of livestock have been
primarily responsible for the rise in agricultural production; yields per pro-
ducing unit have remained fairly stable. Production of certain cash crops has
increased much more rapidly than total farm production, having about doubled
in the case of coffee and nearly tripled in the case of cotton. Sugar output
has risen rapidly since 1954, when commercial production began.
In the long run, Ethiopia has a good potential for greatly expanding
yields per unit of land and livestock by means of widespread adoption of modern
farming techniques--which is not an easy task. In addition, relatively large
areas of presently unused land could be brought under cultivation.
In general, experts familiar with Ethiopia's farm resources and potential
agree that the country could become a major world food exporter. This opinion,
however, has been expressed periodically for several decades, and past produc-
tion performance would seem to indicate that Ethiopia's agricultural potential
will not be realized in the near future.
In the short run, assuming normal weather conditions, there is likely to
be a high rate of growth for cotton, sugar, meat, dairy products, and possibly
41
oilseeds. In the case of coffee, output could easily be expanded but the
oversupply of this crop on the world market is a limiting factor. It is not
likely that the general level of production for grains and dry legumes will
do more than keep pace with population increases for the next few years.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
(1) Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce
Various issues. Ethiopia Trade and Economic Review. Addis Ababa.

(2) -~-=------
1960-66, various issues. Ethiopian Trade Journal. Addis Ababa.
(3) American University, Foreign Area Studies
1960. Area Handbook for Ethiopia. Washington, D.C.
(4) Ethiopia, Central Statistical Office
1961-66. Statistical Abstract. Addis Ababa.

(5) --------~-
1963. Summary Report on Ethiopia's External Trade, 1953-63.
Addis Ababa.
(6) Ethiopia, Ministry of Agriculture
1962. Second Five-Year Development Plan, 1962-76. Addis Ababa.
(7) Ethiopia, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
1959-64, various monthly issues. Economic Review. Addis Ababa.
(8) Ethiopia, Ministry of Finance
1966. Import and Export Trade Statistics. Addis Ababa.
(9) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
1961. Agriculture in Ethiopia. Comp. by H.P. Huffnagel. Rome.

(10) -----=----
1966-67. Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural Economics and Statistics.
Vols. 16-17.

42
(11) ----------
1956-66. Production Yearbook. Vols. 10-20. Rome.

(12) ----------
1964. Report No. 1925 to the Government of Ethiopia on Livestock
Production. Rome.

(13) ----------
1965. Survey of the Awash River Basin. Gen.Rpt. Vols. 2-5. Rome.
(14) Holm, Henrietta
1956. The Agricultural Economy of Ethiopia. u.s. Dept. of Agr.
FAS-M-13. Washington, D.C.
(15) Imperial Ethiopian College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts
Various numbers. Experiment Station Bulletins. Dire Dawa.
(16) National Bank of Ethiopia
1965-66, various issues. Quarterly Bulletin. Addis Ababa.
(17) Stanford Research Institute
1967. Development of Agriculture and Agro-industry in Ethiopia.
Phase 1 Rpt. Menlo Park, Calif.
(18) u.s. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service
1960-67, various annual issues. Foreign Agricultural Trade
of the United States. Washington, D.C.

(19) ----------
1967. 12 Years of Achievement under Public Law 480. ERS-Foreign 202.
Washington, D.C.

(20) u.s. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service

1956-67, various issues. Foreign Agriculture Circulars.
Washington, D.C.

43
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE POSTAGE AND I"I!:ES .. AID
U,S, DEPARTMENT 01" AG ..ICULTW..
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20250

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

(21) u.s. Department of Commerce, Bureau of International Commerce

1967. Basic Data on the Economy of Ethiopia. OBR 67-14.
Washington, D.C.

(22) ----------
1967. Foreign Trade Regulations of Ethiopia. OBR 66-12.
Washington, D.c.
(23) u.s. Foreign Service
1963-67. Numerous unclassified despatches and reports from the
American Embassy, Addis Ababa.

(24) u.s. Operations Mission to Ethiopia

1954-60. The Agriculture of Ethiopia, Vols. 1-7. Addis Ababa.