Dry conditions are common in Ethiopia, but the 2015-2016 El Niño – the strongest on record – led to the worst drought in over a decade. Bad harvests across Ethiopia left 10.2 million people – more than 1 in 10 Ethiopians – in need of emergency food assistance. But nearly as calamitous was the loss of seed---the basis of farming and food security---by more than 1.35 million people, due to the lack of rains.
Wheat and maize are strategic food crops in Ethiopia, grown on more than 3 million hectares by nearly 14 million households.
High-yielding, resilient wheat varieties from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), along with supportive government policies and better cropping practices, have caused Ethiopia’s wheat production to more than double in just over a decade, rising from 1.6 million tons during 2003-04 to around 3.9 million tons over the last few years.
While the government of Ethiopia and international organizations worked to provide food aid for people facing immediate shortages, Bekele Abeyo, senior wheat breeder and pathologist at CIMMYT for sub-Saharan Africa and leader of the emergency seed project, focused on a more sustainable future.
“Relief efforts provide sustenance for today, but we need to ensure there is also food on plates tomorrow,” said Abeyo. “With the large crop losses experienced in 2015, farmers were not able to save seed for planting in 2016 and did not have sufficient income to purchase more. Unless these farmers are able to access seed, we may face further shortages in 2017.”
Through the emergency seed project implemented by CIMMYT, more than 226,000 households will benefit from the provision of maize, wheat and sorghum seed.
“We hope that this provision of emergency seed will enable Ethiopian smallholder farmers to quickly recover from the devastating drought of 2015,” said Abeyo. “Our unique and strong links with the Ethiopian government, the formal seed sector, farmers’ cooperatives, and partners such as the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) have allowed CIMMYT to quickly respond to farmers’ needs and provide more than 2,700 tons of seed to help ensure Ethiopia’s future food security.”
Generous funding for this work was provided by the American people through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The wheat seed for distribution is of high-yielding varieties able to resist Ethiopia’s rapidly-evolving wheat disease strains. Needy farmers will receive enough seed to sow from ¼ to ½ hectare of land — a quarter or more of the typical farmer’s landholding— along with instructional materials about the varieties and best farming practices.
“Working with local enterprises and partners enables us to procure and deliver seed to drought-affected farmers as quickly as possible,” said Abeyo. “In combination with CIMMYT’s longer-term efforts in the region, we hope that we can foster a more robust seed system and increase food security for 2016 and beyond.”
