Abstract:
Ethiopia is endowed with favorable agro-ecological conditions to cultivate many of the
cool season vegetable crops such as garlic, shallot, carrot, beet root, cabbage, Swiss chard
and other leafy vegetable crops. Smallholder farmers and some commercial farms
produce different vegetables in wide climatic ranges (up to 3000 masl.) of the country
under rain-fed and irrigated conditions. The country produces about 852,304 tons of
vegetables from a total of about 6.8 million ha which is 1.43% of the total area covered by
all crops at national level (CSA, 2013). Out of the 3.7million ha of potentially irrigable
land on which fruits and vegetables could be produced only about 250,000 ha of the
potentially irrigable land is currently under cultivation.
Vegetable crops can generally be very important source of vitamins, minerals and proteins
to a country like Ethiopia where people experience malnutrition due to heavy dependence
on cereal. Ethiopians, on average, consume less than 100 g of fruits and vegetables per
day, i.e. less than a quarter of the recommended consumption (WHO, 2003 and
FAO/WHO, 2004). Several studies also revealed that vitamin A deficiency is a major
public health problem in Ethiopia where less than 75% of pre-school age children
consume vitamin A rich foods at least three times a week.
In addition, there is a steady increase in demand of different vegetables for export and
processing sectors. The country is strategically located to export fresh produce to (Sudan,
Somalia, Djibouti), and to the Middle East and the EU-markets. Export of fruits and
vegetables increased from 6 to 30 million USD between 2002/03 and 2009/10 from,
respectively.
Currently, the horticulture industry is not capable of providing enough nutrition to the
people and generating sufficient income from export. Large-scale fruits and vegetable
farms were government owned, which produce the bulk of the vegetables and fruits for
local consumption. They are not organized and produce low quality products that don‟t
qualify for export. In both cases the production was characterized by low input, poor
agronomic management, high pest and disease damage, high post-harvest losses, poor
organization, and uncertain markets.
So far, efforts have been made to improve the production system with improved packages
of varieties and agronomic practices in major vegetable crops. The effort somehow
motivated growers and increased the production of vegetable crops. However, seasonality
of production and market problems coupled with high postharvest losses has been
discouraging growers. On the other hand, limited research focus, lack of knowledge by
growers and consumption habit by consumers have led to scarcity in produces of a wide
range of high value fruit and vegetable crops. Therefore, due to the above mentioned
problems and the consequent under development of the sector, the demand for fruit and
vegetable crops of the non-agricultural Middle East and some neighboring countries have
been fulfilled by imports from as far as the South American countries. It is clear that with the existing situation, the horticulture industry cannot be able to
produce as competent products as its competitors from the South America, the North
Africa and the Middle East. In order to improve the situation, the government has
provided privileges such as provision of 70 percent of the investment capital, duty-free
import of farm equipment, and a five year tax holiday to export oriented growers.
Consequently, companies such as Jittu horticulture, Ethio-veg fru PLC, Ethio-rose PLC,
Genesis Farms, etc. started producing some high value vegetables for export and local
consumption. Some flower growers also began diversifying to greenhouse vegetables.
The government of Ethiopia has also set an ambitious five-year growth and
transformation plan to increase the production of vegetables and fruits from 1.28 million
tons to 5.91 million tons by doubling the average productivity from 84 q to 165 q per ha
and expanding land from 152.6 thousand ha to 236 thousand ha in 2014/15 from the base
year 2009 (MOFED, 2010).
In order to double the productivity as planned, the number of large and medium size
farms producing high value fruits and vegetables has to be increased and should be
assisted by the research system to produce competent high quality products that can be
exported. Such increase in productivity cannot be achieved by the existing traditional low
input horticulture and it has to leave way for intensive production system. Experiences
elsewhere in the Middle East, North Africa and neighboring countries such as Kenya have
shown that protected culture using tunnels and greenhouses have revolutionized
horticultural production and resulted in high value products throughout the year.
Therefore, developing the vegetable sub-sector through such long term research and
development strategy is vital to effectively utilize the potentials of vegetable crops.