Frustration over prolonged fertiliser shortages has recently hit a fever pitch, with farmers resorting to raiding union warehouses in a small town bordering the Amhara and Oromia regional states last week. The quota system, established by local officials to deal with the scarcity, appears to have only exacerbated the situation, failing to appease farmers preparing for the rainy season, a crucial time for ploughing.

According to Tesfaye Menberu, head of the agricultural input supply and distribution at Arerti Wereda, in the Amhara Regional State, the quota system was adopted due to a severe drop in supply. Federal authorities blame a forex crunch for failing to place orders for fertiliser procurements in November. This system, predicated on plot size, has been further complicated by restrictions on purchases from neighbouring zones in the Oromia Regional State.

May marks the start of farming when plots are primed for the upcoming rainy season. Yet, in this wereda, fertiliser supply to over 25,000 households fell short of half the annual demand of 211,000qtl, as submitted by the regional state's Bureau in its December planning.

Discontent boiled over in Keticha, a town in the Minjar Zone, where local farmers took matters into their own hands, seizing over 3,000qtl NPS, NPS Borone, and UREA stocks from the Keticha and Arerti cooperative unions.

"We've forewarned the cooperatives about the possibility of security concerns," Tesfaye said.

Local law enforcement in Arerti Wereda had anticipated this situation, acknowledging the crucial dependency of farmers on fertiliser.

Gashaw Menzir, the chief sergeant of the Arerti Wereda Peace & Security Bureau, cited the delay in fertiliser distributions as the cause for the rising discontent, particularly among farmers in lowland areas who begin preparing their plots earlier than those in highlands. Gashaw told Fortune that this was not an impromptu protest; vehicles and armed individuals were present during the protest, indicating premeditation. However, he did not disclose if anyone had been detained.

The cooperative union targeted during this storm already dealt with a significant fertiliser shortfall this year, with only 17,000qtl available to cover a third of the demand since mid-February. The Arerti Farmers Cooperative Union, founded during the Dergue regime, has a membership of 5,000 farmers.

Seble Mulgeta, head of the Union, argued the quota allocations were last-resort measures and that the Union lacked the necessary resources to deal with the situation.

"There is nothing left," Seble told Fortune.