Ethiopia: War leaves two-thirds of sesame farm uncultivated

Published 2021년 10월 30일

Tridge summary

Over 500,000 hectares of sesame farm in Ethiopia, which accounts for 70% of the country's annual cultivation, have been left uncultivated due to the ongoing war in northern Ethiopia. The conflict has forced farmers to evacuate and abandon their lands, impacting other crops and potentially reducing the country's sesame export for the year. The war has also increased the need for humanitarian aid among farmers and is expected to lead to market inflation as sesame prices double and the availability of grains decreases. The conflict is also expected to increase the non-performing loans of the Development Bank of Ethiopia, as many large-scale sesame farmers have fled the conflict.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Over 500,000 hectares of sesame farm, which is 70 percent of Ethiopia's annual cultivation for the cash crop, skipped a season without being cultivated due to the ongoing war in northern Ethiopia. "Majority of sesame production is cultivated in Gondar and Tigray. Farmers in these areas have evacuated and currently migrated to urban areas. Most of their land is not cultivated for the current main Meher season. Even those who have sowed have abandoned their farms," said Isayas Lemma, Crop Development director at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). "Other crops are also affected but the northern region is a sesame-farming corridor, which will affect export of sesame for the current year. Farmers from these areas, who used to feed themselves, currently need humanitarian aid. The situation also depletes the availability of grains in the market, inducing inflation," added Isayas. Ethiopia produces close to two million quintals of sesame annually, exporting more than half of it directly. ...

Source: All Africa