Regional perspective – production, constraints,

market, future: Synthesis of Eastern Africa

Alemayehu Assefa (EIAR, Ethiopia)

&

Bekele Geleta (CIMMYT-Ethiopia)

Introduction

East African Environment

Importance of wheat in East Africa

Wheat area and Production

Import and Export of Wheat in ECA

Wheat Production Constraints

Regional Research Priorities

Environment of East African Countries ♣ Because of the rain shadow of the westerly monsoon winds created by

Rwenzori mountains and the Ethiopian highlands

● East Africa is surprisingly cool and dry for its latitude.

● The low lying lands of Northern Kenya, South & South East Ethiopia are extremely dry

● Rainfall being around 400mm at Mogadishu and 1200 mm at Mombasa on the coast

♣ While for the inland, it increases from around 130 mm to over 1 100 mm near Kilimanjaro and most Ethiopian highlands

● Most of the rain falls in two distinct wet seasons (one centered around April and the other October to November.

● But in Ethiopia June to September also

Importance of wheat in East Africa (ECA)

Wheat is increasingly becoming a valued grain in terms of

consumption in ECA due to

rising population and incomes

increased urbanization

and its associated dietary patterns.

Importance of wheat (cont.)

A major crop in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya and

Tanzania

In Kenya, 2nd most important cereal; planted on 0.13 M ha

with annual production of >220,000T.

In Ethiopia, 4th most important cereal; planted on 1.46 M ha

with annual production of 3.1 to 3.4 M t, mostly by small-

holders.

Wheat Area and Production in East Africa

Area (mill ha)

Yield (t/ha)

Production (million t)

Country 2008 2008 2009 2010 2011

E. Africa 1.74 1.7 4.2 3.8 4.2

ETH 1.42 1.7 3.4 3.1 3.4

KEN 0.13 2.3 0.2 0.3 0.2

TAN 0.09 0.9 0.1 0.1 0.1

UGA 0.01 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.0

FAOSTAT 2008; FAO Crop prospects & Food Situation. No. 1, 2012

Wheat production (1961-2008) in East Africa (D.Collin, East African Yield Study)

Fertilizer Use Per hectare in East African Countries

Import/Export (Market)

the ECA region is a net importer of

wheat.

The exports of wheat are very little.

The imports have been increasing

since 1986 from 675,000 t to over 3

million t in 2002

increasing domestic demand of

wheat in ECA countries

The total import requirement

reached 3, 766,200 ton in 2011

(Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda & TZ)

Eg: Tanzania wheat imports

averaged 643,000 T per

annum between 2005 and

2007;

In 1950's, Ethiopia was a

net exporter of wheat; but in

2011: 1,049,000 t import

Wheat Production Constraints in ECA: 1. Technological & Natural factors

Diseases, weeds, insects (RWA)

The appearance of a new race, Ug99, in East Africa

is a serious concern for wheat producing nations

Eg: In Kenya, yield losses up to 71% (equivalent to 210,000 t)

to Ug99 in experiments.

Grain quality

Lack of varieties for specific growing conditions

(drought, heat, irrigation, acid soils)

Poor Good Crop Management

Lack of seeds

2. Socio-Economic & Institutional factors:

● Lack of adoption of technologies as a package

● Inadequate access to production resources

● Inadequate participation of local communities

● Poor physical infrastructure and utilities

● Week institutional framework

● Unfavorable terms of trade

● The whole spectrum in the wheat value chain not often

considered (eg Durum wheat in Ethiopia)

The Priorities for wheat in ECA

1: Improved productivity

Development and dissemination of efficient soil and water management strategies.

Development and dissemination of integrated crop management options.

Development and dissemination of appropriate varieties.

Promotion, access and use of inputs.

The Priorities (Cont’d)

2: Improved markets and trade opportunities

Promote demand driven products of wheat.

Establishing and supporting market and trade information mechanisms.

3: Strengthening institutional support and infrastructure

Establishment and strengthening partnerships. Strengthening human and institutional capacity.

The Priorities (Cont’d)

4: Development and promotion of appropriate post harvest technologies and utilization options

Processing technologies. Appropriate technologies to reduce post

harvest losses.

Development and promotion of value addition in wheat.

The Priorities (Cont’d)

5. Influencing policy issues

Establishing favourable marketing policies and

suitable infrastructure.

Identifying and promoting favourable policies.

(eg. Design mechanism for domestic food processing factories to

use local wheat produces)

R4D Strategy:

The problems, potentials and opportunities seen so far reflect

the need for a collective effort between institutions, countries

through regional platforms for:

● Technology generation

● Adoption and extension

● Knowledge management

Sub-regional integration can boost longer-term growth and can

deliver benefits to food security in short run

R4D Strategy (cont.)

Hence, East African Agricultural Productivity Program

(EAAPP) aimed at

● Sharing technologies, knowledge and information

● To strengthen enabling environment for regional seed trade

and improve the capacity of seed producers and traders

● Increasing market based supply of seeds to farmers

● Harmonization of policies & seed services to strengthen

regional wheat seed and markets:

While keeping strong collaboration with CG Centers

(CIMMYT, ICARDA & others)

The Role of Research to Increased Wheat Production

Trends of wheat production & productivity in response to varietal development in Ethiopia (1961-2007): Source: FAOSTAT

Future: Regional Integration

Regional integration under the auspices of the African Union (AU), the

United Nations Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), Common Market for

East and Southern Africa (COMESA),

Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD),

and the re-establishment of the East African Community (EAC) are

opening opportunities for enlarging the market through elimination of

tariff and non-tariff trade barriers.

Further, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), can

assist African producers to avoid inadvertently undermining each other in

the international market place and

Collaboratively carve out a significant market share for selected products in

which the region can be competitive (NEPAD, 2003).