The wheat demand gap in Ethiopia is 0.6 million MT per year and is growing. As a result, the country is faced with a huge import bill estimated to be USD 540 million annually to satisfy the local demand for wheat. In addition, wheat productivity is only at 3.0 MT/ha. Increasing wheat production is a core part of Ethiopia’s Ten-Year Development Plan (2021-2030) to accelerate economic progress and ensure national food security. 

To achieve self-sufficiency and be a net exporter by 2025/26, the Government of Ethiopia launched the National Wheat Flagship Program (NWFP) for wheat self-sufficiency and import substitution, a program to expand and promote irrigated wheat production on a total area of one million Ha in 2022/23 season and expand it by 5-10% annually. To support achieve this target, the African Development Bank financed the Ethiopia Wheat Value Chain Development Project (EWVCDP) to contribute to meeting Ethiopia’s wheat demands, sustain the import substitution goal and produce surplus for export.

The objective is to improve production and productivity of wheat in Ethiopia with the aim of promoting national wheat self-sufficiency, regional trade, and exports, at the same time, increase incomes and improved livelihoods for wheat value-chain actors.

• Conduct a suitability analysis to assess local climatic conditions and food security, the structure of the local economy and access to resources, and to identify parts of the country that are performing below potential in terms of agricultural productivity
• Using a hybrid of climate risk assessment tools to generate micro-region climate risk maps and information to highlight local enabling conditions for particular interventions to accelerate adaptation in agriculture 
• Facilitate the production of a feasibility and blueprint of the integration of digital adaptation solutions
• Integrate digital climate adaptation solutions in the wheat farmer registration system 
• Support capacity building of extension agents and stakeholders to deploy digital climate advisory services and digital adaptation solutions in the delivery and implementation of agricultural extension services

• Facilitate access to farm inputs (seeds and fertiliser)
• Improve the efficiency of existing irrigation schemes through rehabilitation and maintenance of infrastructure –desilting, drainage, extend canals
• Strengthened and established full package mechanization service centres in the wheat growing areas
• Delivered extension and advisory services to farmers on agricultural practices (soil, crop and water management packages, disease and pest management and post-harvest handling)

• Increased wheat production through mechanisation, extension and advisory services 
• Enabled market linkages, Agri-Finance and private investments
• Rehabilitated and expanded Irrigation Infrastructure by increasing the efficiency of existing  irrigation  schemes