FDRE Ministry of Agriculture

National Wheat Development Initiative

Special Initiatives >National Wheat Development Initiative

Agriculture remains the main economic pillar of Ethiopia’s macro economy. Wheat has been identified as one of the ten priority commodities under Ethiopia’s Ten-year Agricultural Development Plan.

For years, Ethiopia has heavily relied on importing wheat, spending up to 1 billion US dollars, annually. However, following recent economic and agricultural reforms, the government has successfully saved a substantial amount of foreign exchange while boosting national food security. This was achieved by extensively cultivating wheat in the country during both the rainy and dry seasons.

During the dry season, wheat irrigation increased from 20,000 hectares in 2020 to 3.5 million hectares in 2025, and production increased from 600,000 quintals to 128 million quintals. In 2025, 7.8 million hectares of land was cultivated during both the rainy and dry seasons, producing a total of 280 million quintals of wheat.

During the rainy season, wheat cultivation increased from 1.8 million hectares in 2020 to 4.2 million hectares in 2025, and production increased from 53 million quintals to 152 million quintals.

This is the Ethiopia’s National Wheat Development which aims at transforming the country into a self-sufficient wheat producer. Through this effort, Ethiopia is moving away from reliance on imports to achieving food sovereignty and becoming one of Africa's leading wheat producers.

In 2025, Ethiopia fully replaced the import of an estimated 2.6 million quintals of wheat, previously imported in 2021, with domestically produced wheat. This saved the country an average of USD1 billion annually.

Through such efforts Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed was awarded the prestigious FAO Agricola Medal on January 28, 2024, in Rome, Italy. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognized his leadership in promoting food security, nutrition, and the effort made towards wheat self-sufficiency.