Ethiopia, which spends more than $103 million on fertilizer imports every year, has decided to produce its own fertilizer to cut imports and meet its own agricultural needs.
To achieve this goal, the African country is investing over $ 2.8 billion in the construction of five fertilizer plants that will be able to produce 300,000 tons of fertilizer annually.
These new facilities are scheduled to start production in 2017. They will be built at the Yayu area which is close to coal resources and raw materials needed for the fertilizers manufacturing and processing.
The plants will help Ethiopia boost its agricultural sector, the main engine of the country’s economy. Ethiopia is an agrarian country which has a total of 16 million hectares of arable land. About 12 million hectares of the total area are used for food grains growing.
According to latest FAO figures, around three out of every four Ethiopians are engaged in agriculture, mainly in rain-fed farming and livestock production. Despite this, more than 31 million Ethiopians suffer from food shortage. Frequent drought, a lack of training and equipment for farmers, and poor access to markets make it difficult for them to earn a living.
But many pilot agricultural projects have been launched with the support of aid donors to help lift farmers and herders out of poverty.
