Authority's Drive to Clean Up Agriculture Faces Uphill Battle Over Cost, Compliance

Authority's Drive to Clean Up Agriculture Faces Uphill Battle Over Cost, Compliance

Sep 27 , 2025. By BEZAWIT HULUAGER ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

A new strategy calls for a 31 million dollar investment into a bold new plant health initiative, a move that signals one of the country’s largest agricultural reforms in years. The Phytosanitary Capacity Development Strategy, drafted by the Ethiopian Agricultural Authority, is designed to address the root causes behind shipment rejections and underpriced exports.

The federal government is to inject nearly 31 million dollars into a sweeping overhaul of the country's plant health regime, a strategy authorities hope will safeguard farmers, revive export credibility, and reposition agriculture for the global market.

The proposed Phytosanitary Capacity Development Strategy, drafted by the Ethiopian Agricultural Authority (ETA), targets the root causes of export performance issues, such as pest contamination and a lack of certification, blamed for rejected shipments and underpriced produce. Officials say the project marks one of the most ambitious efforts yet to modernise agriculture, a sector that underpins food security and exports.

Plant pests, long treated as a side issue in the push to expand production, have quietly eroded incomes, biodiversity and the country’s trade profile. The new strategy calls for investments in monitoring, inspection and certification systems to ensure that export products meet the sanitary requirements of as many as 186 countries.

“The new strategy will help us ensure exported products are free of harmful insects,” said Wondale Habtamu (PhD), deputy director general of the Ethiopian Agriculture Authority (ETA). “Some pests that seem harmless here can cause devastating diseases elsewhere.”

Over the past seven years, Ethiopia imported more than 613,000tns of planting materials ranging from flower cuttings and vegetable seeds to strawberry and avocado seedlings and banana plantlets produced through tissue culture. Along with them came invasive pests, from cotton mealybug, tomato leaf miner and white mango scale to wheat stem rust, citrus whitefly and faba bean gall disease. More aggressive threats, such as the South American tomato fruit worm and maize lethal necrosis disease, have raised fresh alarms about the country’s plant health systems.

The risks are already showing up in trade figures. Since 2021, Ethiopia has exported over 6.6 million metric tons of agricultural products. Between 2015 and mid-2025, European data show that 154 shipments were intercepted due to pest contamination, resulting in rejected or destroyed cargo. The shipments included vegetables, fruits and other cash crops intended for markets in Europe and the Middle East, where sanitary standards are strict.

“This shows the gaps in our plant health system,” Wondale said.

The problem is that many exports are unsanitised raw products with limited traceability. The Deputy Director compared the system to human travel protocols.

“As a person needs a passport and visa, agricultural products also need clearance against GMOs, fungi, and bacteria,” he said.

According to Wondale, even seemingly harmless insects, such as butterflies, can transmit more than 100 plant diseases abroad, triggering costly quarantines for exporters.

The Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that up to 40pc of global crop production is lost annually to pests and diseases, costing over 220 billion dollars. Diseases alone account for around 14pc of losses, according to studies cited by the Caribbean Plant Health Directors Forum and ScienceDirect. Ethiopia, Wondale said, risks falling behind competitors if it continues shipping raw, uncertified products.

“Products cannot be sold solely because they are produced,” he said. “Without quality, volume is nothing.”

Japan demonstrates how quality standards transform agricultural trade. There, premium meat sells for 300 dollars to 400 dollars a kilogram due to rigorous health and quality inspections. Ethiopia, by contrast, exports vegetables and fruits mainly to nearby markets such as Djibouti and Somalia, earning modest prices that fail to match the labour or potential value of the produce.

“The goal is to move from agriculture to agribusiness,” Wondale said. “We must maximise value, not just volume.”

According to Wondale, issues like modern traceability and digitised systems are compounded by a lack of awareness, which remains the biggest challenge. Without electronic records and clear quality control, the country cannot ensure the production of safe and consistent products for export markets. Between 2019 and 2024, Ethiopia exported an estimated 36.4 million metric tons of agricultural goods, with annual volumes increasing from 5.2 million metric tons to nearly 6.8 million metric tons.

Coffee, pulses, oilseeds, cut flowers, and growing volumes of fruits and vegetables fueled the growth, but Wondale admitted the overall export value “remains far from what could be achieved.”

Cotton offers a clear illustration of Ethiopia’s trade vulnerabilities. Over the past decade, the country earned 1.1 billion dollars from cotton exports while importing 5.6 billion dollars worth, leaving a wide trade deficit. In 2023 alone, cotton exports brought in only 11.68 million dollars, according to the UN COMTRADE database. Most of the cotton was conventional, rather than sustainable, which limited access to premium markets, such as the European Union (EU), where deforestation and traceability rules have become stricter.

Three years ago, one company exported 50,000tns of raw cotton. Now sustainable cotton exports do not exceed 100tns. Tsegaye Abebe, general manager of the Ethiopian Cotton Association, blamed the decline on strict rules on fertiliser use, high maintenance requirements and poor incentives for producers.

“Sustainable cotton offers premium prices,” he said, “but without subsidies and support, large-scale producers see little reason to invest.”

Similar complaints come from fruit and vegetable exporters, who say meeting health and quality standards drains their limited resources. According to Messay Gudina, head of the Meki Batu Fruits & Vegetables Producers Union, chemical testing alone costs his group 1.5 million Br for 300 farmers, while Global G.A.P. certification for 200 farmers required another 1.1 million Br.

“We know these measures are necessary,” he said. “But the costs are crushing.”

Despite such hurdles, experts argue that vegetables and fruits remain among Ethiopia’s best hopes for diversifying exports and climbing the value chain. Agriculture anchors the food security framework, closely tied to the Ethiopia Country Strategic Plan (2025–2030), led by the World Food Programme (WFP). With a 3.37 billion dollar budget, the plan aspires to ensure vulnerable populations have access to safe and nutritious food while aligning the country’s agricultural policies with "Zero Hunger" of the UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs).

Experts warn, however, that the reforms could push some exporters out of business. Rising compliance costs will eat into already thin margins, said Shimeles Araya (PhD), an agricultural economist.

“This will reduce exporters’ competitiveness and may push them out of global markets,” he said.

If that happens, he cautioned, exporters will turn to domestic markets where prices and demand are lower, discouraging future investments in exports.

The risks extend to the broader economy. The country recorded a trade deficit of 3.81 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2024, with imports of 5.07 billion dollars far outpacing exports of 1.27 billion dollars, according to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE).

“This undermines policy sovereignty,” Shimeles said. “If trade deficits grow, Ethiopia risks becoming import-dependent and losing control over its economic agenda.”

For officials, the phytosanitary strategy presents an opportunity to transform the agricultural profile, shifting from bulk raw shipments to higher-value and standards-compliant agribusiness. For farmers and exporters, it raises tough questions about cost, feasibility and awareness. For policymakers, it highlights the delicate balance between protecting plant health, feeding the population and competing in global markets.

“This is about more than insects," said Wondale. "It’s about the future of our agricultural economy.”

PUBLISHED ON Sep 27,2025 [ VOL 26 , NO 1326]