Ethiopia Wheat Production in 2023 -24 Forecasted to Drop by 5%

ETHIOPIA, Oct. 13 – Ethiopia’s wheat production is forecast according to the U.S. Agricultural Department to fall 5% in the marketing year that starts in October 2023 and ends in September 2024 due to drought and conflict in the growing areas.

This U.S Agricultural Department made this forecast public late Thursday.

Production is now expected to fall to 3.5 million metric tons compared with an earlier estimate made in September of 5.5 million tons, the USDA said in its October World Agricultural Production report.

In the current marketing year, yield is estimated at a record 1.9 tons a hectare (2.47 acres), down 24% from the September estimate and unchanged from a year earlier, it said.

Wheat yields were above average in the prior marketing year due to well-distributed rainfall in the main highland production zones and increased wheat area under irrigation, according to the USDA, Dow Jones NewsWires reports.

“Wheat yields are estimated below the five-year average due to conflict in several wheat growing regions, high fertilizer prices, and mid-season drought during August and September,” the USDA said.

Ethiopia is the largest wheat producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, where wheat is mostly grown under rain-fed conditions on small farms in the southern and central highlands, the USDA said.