With a population of over 100 million people, Ethiopia is one of the fastest-growing population and economies in Africa. Ethiopia’s economy is dependent on agriculture. Agriculture-led economic growth, accompanied by improvements in people’s livelihoods and nutrition, can provide a long-lasting solution to Ethiopia’s chronic poverty and food insecurity and build their resilience to recurring shocks.
563THOUSAND
Producers using new technology and practices with Feed the Future’s help in FY16;
$35 MILLION
Income earned by Feed the Future farmers in FY16 from agricultural sales;
6MILLION
Children under 5 reached with nutrition help in FY16;
$19 MILLION
New private investment leveraged by Feed the Future in FY16;
12PERCENT
Reduction in the prevalence of poverty in the areas where Feed the Future has worked since 2013;
30PERCENT
Reduction in the prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years old in the areas where Feed the Future has worked since 2013;
Key Achievements
Significant amendments to the Land Administration policy (promoted by the USAID supported LAND activity) have been accepted by the Ministry of Agriculture and will be forwarded to the Council of Ministers and House of Representatives for adoption.
Over 100,000 maize farmers are now using hybrid maize varieties, promoted by a Feed the Future partnership with DuPont Pioneer, more than doubling their yields compared to the traditional varieties they were using previously. Ethiopia, supported by Feed the Future and private sector partners, introduced the first locally-fortified wheat flour in the country.
USAID’s Food for Peace environmental rehabilitation activities restored more than 2,700 hectares of land, which will improve households’ resilience to shocks and stresses. Evidence from Feed the Future’s resilience programming area in the Ethiopian lowlands shows that most households were able to maintain their food security status during oderate droughts in 2015. Households in lowland communities that were reached by comprehensive resilience programs were also better able to maintain their food security status in the face of the severe drought in 2016, whereas households in other communities experienced a 30 percent decline.
Source
The results shown reflect data from the USAID, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Peace Corps, U.S. African Development Foundation and the Department of Treasury (through the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program) reported into Feed the Future’s central monitoring system for fiscal year 2016 (FY16). Impact data for poverty and stunting statistics are derived from the 2016 Feed the Future Ethiopia Interim Population-Based Survey Report. For more information on the indicators above, please view our Feed the Future Indicator Handbook. All dollar amounts are listed in U.S. dollars.
Improve resilience to and protection from shocks and disasters with increased livelihood opportunities;
Improve nutrition status of women and young children;
Strengthen the enabling environment to support increased investment and broad-based agricultural growth;
Zones of Influence in Ethiopia
Amhara
Oromia
Somali
Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s
Tigray
Background Stats
102MILLION
Number of people living in Ethiopia (World Bank, 2016;)
7.6PERCENT
Annual GDP growth. (IMF World Economic Database, 2016;)
80PERCENT
Percentage of population living in rural Ethiopia (World Bank, 2016 estimate;)
35PERCENT
Percentage of people living in poverty in Feed the Future target regions in 2015;
Value Chains
Chickpeas
Coffee
Dairy
Honey
Livestock
Maize/Corn
Poultry
Sweet Potato
Wheat
Photo by CNFA Ethiopia CFSP
Approach
With a population of over 100 million people, Ethiopia is one of the fastest-growing population and economies in Africa.
Ethiopia’s economy is dependent on agriculture, which accounts for 41 percent of gross domestic product and more than 80 percent of exports. However, challenges persist, including plot sizes too small to maximize economies of scale, low crop yields, lack of access to credit and land tenure constraints, limited use of improved seeds and fertilizers, and weak connections between farms and markets. In Ethiopia, only six percent of cultivated land is currently under irrigation, which is exacerbated by drought conditions.
Undernutrition hampers both human and economic development. Though in decline, child undernutrition rates in Ethiopia are among the highest in the world and undernutrition contributes to over 50 percent of infant and child deaths.
Despite these challenges, agriculture-led economic growth, accompanied by improvements in people’s livelihoods and nutrition, can provide a long-lasting solution to Ethiopia’s chronic poverty and food insecurity by building their resilience to recurring shocks. To achieve this, Feed the Future is helping vulnerable households in Ethiopia increase their agricultural productivity, participate in economic activities, and generate demand for products.
Activities
Feed the Future supports the following programs, partnerships and organizations in Ethiopia.
African Alliance for Improved Food Processing (AAIFP)
Agricultural Growth Project – Livestock Market Development (LMD)
Agriculture Knowledge, Learning, Documentation and Policy (AKLDP)
Algae/Duckweed Innovation
Asian Vegetable Research Development Center
Borlaug Higher Education Agricultural Research and Development Program
Camel Milk Value Chain Development in Somali Region
Capacity to Improve Agriculture and Food Security (CIAFS)
