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A native of the Gerar Jarso Wereda in the North Shoa
Zone of the Oromia Regional State, Mekete Debalke is
a farmer who sweats to support his extended family
of nine. Cultivating wheat, sorghum, barley, pea and
teff on his eight hectare plot of land, the 40
year old is admired by his fellow farmers for his
surplus bi-annual harvests. Unfortunately, Mekete
seems to have found himself in a defeating moment of
late. The Belg rainfall, which farmers count
on for their second cultivation of the year, has not
been available this year.
“We have yet to get even a light rainfall,” said
Mekete, anxious.
It has been six months since he began preparing his
two hectare agricultural land for cultivation. He
ploughed it in September 2007, but could not
re-plough it as there is not even scanty rainfall to
wet his parched plot.
He reminisces about the uninterrupted rainfall which
fell last year at the same time and helped him
harvest 80qts of barley.
“My only choice now is to expect the coming summer
rainy season,” he said.
Mekete is an inhabitant of a highland, where there
is an annual rainfall of 800-1,200mm. According to
the Atlas of the Ethiopian Rural Economy, barley and
wheat are the main crops grown in highlands while
teff, an indigenous crop, grows at
1,500-2,300mts above sea level. Corn and sorghum are
best suited for the lowlands.
Nonetheless, the belg rainfall has not met
farmers’ expectations. The Ethiopian Meteorology
Agency had also forecast that there would be scanty
rainfall in the season which began in February.
Last year, barley was sold for 260-300Br per quintal
following the mid- year harvest. This price is
expected to significantly rise this year, compounded
by the all time high cost of fertilizer.
“Production will drop remarkably,” says Abiy Hinsene,
general manager of Biftu Selale Farmers Cooperative
Union.
The union supplies agricultural inputs to farmers in
12 weredas stretching from Sululta, 25km far
from Addis Abeba to Goha Tsion 161km far from
Sululta.
Established in January 2005, Biftu Selale has
procured 25,000 metric tonnes of urea. Together with
the Dap fertilizer it bought from other unions,
Biftu Selale has made 146,000qts of both fertilizer
types available for farmers.
Nonetheless, due to the absence of rain this March,
Biftu Selale and other cooperative unions are forced
to sit on their mountains of fertilizer.
“We are confused as the farmers are not coming to
purchase fertilizers,” Abiy told Fortune.
According to Abiy, his union had planned to collect
last year’s debt from farmers before informing them
about the fertilizer prices this year because there
were fears that the farmers would walk away for
good. Unfortunately for the union, the farmers did
not come demanding fertilizers in the first place.
Biftu Selale has yet to collect a 34 million Birr
debt from the previous years’ fertilizer sales and
has planned to supply farmers this year with 50pc
credit.
The cooperative’s union has 7,300 members organized
under 24 basic farmers’ cooperatives. Its total
wealth has risen to 42 million Birr from 305,000Br
when it was established.
Teyib Ousman, also a resident of the Gerar Jarso
Wereda, is a farmer who supports members of his
household with the harvest that he reaps from his
1.5hec plot of land. To produce a reasonably
adequate harvest, his patch needs more than five
quintals of dap and urea annually. However, he does
not seem to have the capacity to purchase the same
amount for this year’s cultivation with the
escalating prices of fertilizer.
“I am planning to purchase a mere 2.5qts of
fertilizer this year,” says Teyib. “I, therefore,
cannot cultivate the total land.”
On average, fertiliser prices have been rising by
200 dollars on every tender offer this budget year,
reaching 871 dollars per tonne at the last
procurement. Compared to last year, the price has
almost doubled.
Last year, a tonne of fertilizer dap was sold for
366-400 dollars. When distributed to the farmers, a
quintal of fertiliser went for 350-420Br. This year,
however, a quintal of fertilizer is expected to be
distributed to farmers for 600-700Br.
Yerer Cooperatives Union, which procured a tonne of
fertilizer for 854 dollars this year, will retail it
at 950 Br per quintal, confided Kasahun Abera,
general manager of the union which is based in North
Shoa Zone of the Oromia Regional State.
According to Mengistu Kebede, general manager of
Chemtrade International Plc, and representative of
Ameropa, a supplier of fertilizer, this should not
surprise anyone considering what is coming ahead.
He wonders if Ethiopian farmers would, any way, use
fertilizers next year.
The international price of fertiliser has now gone
up to 1,000 dollars per tonne and it is expected to
increase even more.
According to an expert, there is currently a
scarcity of phosphate, a major input for fertiliser
production. Compounded by the oil price hike, the
rise in investment costs has therefore pushed the
price of the fertilizer to an all time high.
“It is not enough,” says Mengistu. “Vessel rent has
also picked from 52 dollars last year to 98
dollars,” he bemoans. “The cost of bagging the bulky
fertilizer at the Djibouti port has also doubled
from seven dollars to 14 dollars per tonne.”
Chemtrade needs seven vessels to transport the
180,000tns of fertilizer that it supplies to
cooperative unions.
Ethiopia’s annual fertilizer consumption has been
increasing every year. Suppliers of the commodity
are also gradually changing from private companies
to cooperative unions.
In 2005/06 budget year, 376,000tns of fertiliser
were imported and this grew to 650,000 metric tonnes
in the following year. For the 2007/08 budget year,
530,000tns of fertiliser have already been procured
but it has yet to be purchased by farmers due to the
failing rains.
There have been claims that the lack of adequate
rainfall is costing the lives of humans and cattle
in pastoral areas of the country, although the Prime
Minister, Meles Zenawi, denied these claims during
his half-year parliamentary report last week.
According to Amare Babo, metrological analysis and
forecast department head at the Ethiopian
Metrological Agency, the Belg rains have
failed, except in the South West and southern parts
of Ethiopia, as well as in western Oromia and
Gambela. Belg rainfall spans from February
to mid- May.
Says Kasahun: “Although our zone does not cultivate
during these months of the year, it would have
helped us to prepare the land for the summer
cultivation.”
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