| Jan 23 2015 | Record 2014/15 Wheat Harvest Expected for Ethiopia |
Ethiopia wheat production for 2014/15 is estimated at a record 4.4 million tons, up 0.15 million tons from last year’s record crop. Harvested area is estimated at a record 1.8 million hectares, up 0.15 million from last year. Yield is estimated at a record 2.4 tons/hectare, due to favorable rainfall throughout the growing season in the wheat highland regions. Harvest of the 2014/15 crop has just finished. Wheat yield has been increasing since 2002 due to government initiatives that encouraged farmers to adopt improved seed varieties, increase fertilizer distribution, and expanded agriculture extension in rural areas (Please see Figure 1 for graph of wheat area, yield and production).
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| Dec 19 2013 | Ethiopia Travel Report: Harvest Underway and Above-average Crop Output Expected |
Harvest is underway in Ethiopia and seasonal satellite imagery products indicate above-average cereal yields are expected for Ethiopia’s main cereal crops (corn, sorghum, wheat and barley) during the December 2013 harvest. Figures 1-2 show three primary satellite-derived products (i.e., Seasonal percent of normal rainfall, Water Requirement Satisfaction Index (WRSI) Anomaly, and Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) Anomaly) which indicate average to above-average crop conditions for Ethiopia’s 2013 crop season. Internet links to these satellite-based crop monitoring products are listed below, under the section titled “Related Internet Sites for Monitoring Crop Conditions by Satellites”.
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| Dec 1 2009 | Kenya's Grain Basket Experiences Drought and Lowers "Long Rains" Corn Output |
USDA's November forecast for Kenya's 2009/10 corn production is 1.8 million tons, down 0.3 million tons from last year's poor crop and below the 5-year average of 2.6 million tons. Rainfall during Kenya's 2009 "long rains" season from March-November was below average, with a large portion of the Kenya's grain basket in the northern Rift Valley province experiencing the worse drought in the past 9-years. Area is estimated at 1.6 million hectares, or near the 5-year average of 1.7 million hectares. The forecast yield is 1.13 tons per hectare, below last year's poor yield of 1.28 tons per hectare and below the 5-year average of 1.5. The current 2009/10 corn production forecast for Kenya will be adjusted early next year, after the harvest for the "short rains" season from October-February is completed in February, 2010.
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| Nov 25 2008 | Ethiopia 2008 Crop Assessment Travel Report |
USDA Office of Global Analysis (OGA) of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) performed a mid-season crop assessment and spatial model validation survey in Ethiopia from October 8-17, 2008, with personnel from USAID FEWS-NET project, the United Nation's Word Food Program (WFP), and the European Commission Monitoring of Agriculture with Remote Sensing (MARS) program of the Joint Research Centre (JRC). This was the first known crop assessment tour between personnel from USDA/FAS, FEWS-NET, WFP and MARS.
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| Sep 4 2008 | Kenya: Below-Average Corn Output Expected |
USDA's August forecast for Kenya's 2008/09 corn production is 2.55 million tons, down 0.4 million tons from last year and below the 5-year average of 2.7 million tons. Area is estimated at 1.6 million hectares, down 0.1 million hectares from last year due to insecurity caused by Post-Election Violence (PEV) from January-April this year.
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| Dec 14 2007 | 2007 Crop Tour Report for Niger, Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia |
A mid-season crop assessment tour for Niger, Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia was conducted by personnel from USDAs Office of Global Analysis (OGA) and USAID's FEWS-NET project from September 10 to October 3, 2007. The general crop conditions and field observations within these countries are summarized below.
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| Sep 19 2006 | Heavy Rains during August Cause Massive Floods in Ethiopia |
Ethiopia has appealed for millions of dollars in emergency relief for the country's worst flooding in decades as hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands left homeless caused by flash floods along the Omo, Awash, and Blue Nile rivers. Floods are relatively common in Ethiopia from June to September when rains peak during the main rainy season, but this year the country has experienced some of the heaviest and most intense rains on record during August. Forecasters warn that the country faces further flood threats as dams are filled and rains are expected to continue until the end of the wet season in September.
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| Sep 26 2005 | Low Water Levels Observed on Lake Victoria |
The Foreign Agricultural Service's (FAS) Global Reservoir Monitor indicate very low lake levels in Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa and major reservoir for the Nile River. Water levels have remained above-average for more than 40-years, but current water levels are below normal and the lowest level since September, 1961. The lake typically recharges during the upcoming short rains (October-December) and long rain (February-June) seasons, but the amount of recharge this year will be dependent on upcoming seasonal rainfall amounts and if Uganda's power utility does not release too much water for power generation.
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| Sep 1 2005 | Kenya: Corn Production Greater than Last Year |
The USDA August estimate for Kenya's total 2005/06 corn production is 2.8 million tons, up 800,000 tons from last year's poor harvest. The increase is attributed to better yields than last year in Kenya's northern grain basket and an increase in national corn area to 1.750 million hectares due chiefly to high local prices for the past two years and good rains at the start of the season.
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| Apr 14 2000 | CONSECUTIVE DROUGHTS REDUCE ETHIOPIAN GRAIN PRODUCTION |
Ethiopia is facing a fourth consecutive growing season drought which threatens grain supplies for 1999/2000 and 2000/01. Ethiopias corn production has faced several shortages during the last two decades (Figure 1), but overall crop production has grown. Increased area planted and stronger yields resulted in record production in 1996.
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| Jun 26 2000 | DROUGHT UPDATE FOR THE HORN OF AFRICA |
Several regions of the Horn of Africa are facing severe drought, with the worst drought affected regions being southern and eastern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya. Cumulative rainfall has been nearly normal in Eritrea, southern Sudan and Somalia, but reduced crop production is reported in these areas due to regional conflicts
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| Aug 31 2001 | Drought in the Horn of Africa Reduces Somalia's Grain Production |
Somalias corn and sorghum harvest in August is estimated below average due to a drought in the Horn of Africa. Most of the drought extends throughout the arid and semi-arid regions of eastern Africa, which has greatly affected the grazing lands and water supplies of pastoralists living in Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia. The spatial extent of the drought, for the most part, does not extend into the highland agricultural areas in Kenya and Ethiopia, but the drought has profoundly affected the crop areas in southern Somalia. Recently, a Ministry of Agriculture official from Somalia appealed for international assistance due to severe drought in Awdal, Togdher, Nugal, Mudug, Galgudud, Hiran, Gedo, Middle Juba, and Lower Juba regions.
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| Sep 14 2001 | Horn of Africa: Average Corn Harvest, But Severe Drought in Pastoral Regions |
Corn production in the Horn of Africa during the main 2001 growing season is expected to be average, largely due to good rainfall in the crop regions (Figure 1) offsetting poor rainfall in the marginal agricultural lands. However, severe drought has affected the pastoral regions of eastern Ethiopia, northeastern Kenya, and southern Somalia (Figure 2), where both pastoralist and agro-pastoralists (producers with land in both pasture and field crops) are currently facing an extremely difficult food situation and may require food aid.
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| Jan 14 2002 | Somalia: Severe Drought Reduces Grain Production |
Somalias corn and sorghum harvest in January 2002 is forecast to be below average due to a long-term drought that extends throughout the arid and semi-arid regions of eastern Africa, greatly affecting grazing lands and water supplies of pastoralists living in southeastern Ethiopia, northeastern Kenya, Djibouti, and southwestern Somalia. The spatial extent of the drought, for the most part, does not extend into the highland agricultural areas in Kenya and Ethiopia, but the drought has profoundly affected the crop areas in southern Somalia. The drought in southern Somalia is also compounded by continued civil strife in most areas of the country.
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| Oct 24 2002 | Ethiopia: Drought Intensifies During Corn and Sorghum Harvest |
Below-average rainfall during the main meher growing season from June-October and lower rain during February-May have created extremely dry conditions at harvest. Corn and sorghum account for more than 40 percent of the countrys total cereal production and they are the main staple foods for a large portion of the population, especially for the lowland pastoralists who are most vulnerable to famine during drought years. Due to poor meher harvest conditions, both the Government of Ethiopia and the United Nations have appealed for international food aid, with the peak number of people requiring food assistance occurring slightly before the secondary belg harvest next June.
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| Dec 27 2004 | Kenya's Corn Production Down Due to Poor Rainfall |
USDA's December estimate for Kenya's 2004/05 corn production is at 2.1 million tons, down 400,000 tons or 16 percent from last year. The decrease in production is largely due to below-average rainfall during the "long-rains" season from March to December. Harvest for the long rain season from March to December is nearly complete and estimated production for the long rains season is 1.7 million tons, below the 5-year long-rains average of approximately 1.95 million tons. Total 2004/05 corn production is estimated at 2.1 million tons, by forecasting the short-rains corn production estimate at 400,000 tons, or slightly below the 5-year short-rains average of approximately 500,000 tons. Reduced grain production during the long-rains season caused Kenya's food aid requirements to be revised upwards to assist 2.7 million people. Food aid is targeted for the seven worst affected districts located in the pastoral regions of Turkana, Marsabit, Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo, and Garissa districts.
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