Addis Ababa, October 31, 2024 (FBC) – Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) stated that the Ethiopian government is anticipating producing at least 300 million quintals (30 thousand tons) of wheat in the current fiscal year.
The Prime Minister disclosed the intent while responding to questions from MPs and highlighting the federal government’s plans and priorities for the 2024/25 fiscal year at the 3rd regular session of the parliament this morning.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister said his government is aiming an 8.4 percent GDP growth during the current financial year and agriculture is one of the major sectors to achieve this plan. However, he mentioned that this figure could grow further than anticipated, considering the achievements recorded in the past 3 months of the current fiscal year,
Highlighting the anticipated growth of the sectors separately, Abiy said that the agriculture sector is expected to record 6.1 percent growth. Among the domains of the agriculture sector, crop production and Bounty of the Basket initiative are expected to record a 6.6 and 5.1 percent growth, respectively.
He pointed out that millions of livestock have been bred thanks to the impacts of the “Bounty of the Basket initiative. This fiscal year, the government plans a production of 150 million chicks, 12 billion liters of milk, 218 thousand tons of chicken meat, 8 billion eggs, 12.28 thousand tons of fish and 297 thousand tons of honey.
This year, Ethiopia is the third biggest coffee producer country in the world, only behind Brazil and Vietnam, the premier noted, asserting that his government is making efforts to top the global coffee producers list or at least to close the gap with Brazil’s capacity.
He mentioned that it is planned to export 450,000 to 500,000 tons of coffee, and revealed the plans to open 20 tea processing factories this year.
Regarding wheat production, Abiy said that this year, more than 8.2 million hectares of land will be covered with wheat and it is expected that at least 300 million quintals (30 thousand tons) of wheat crop will be harvested.
On the other hand, he pointed out that the production of sesame, almonds, soybeans and plantains has been done on a large scale and will continue to be strengthened.