The State of Eritrea

Ministry of Agriculture Newsletter

A Monthly Newsletter prepared by Public Relations Division, Issue No 36, June 2021

Eritrea’s Agricultural Sector: Major achievements
over the past 30 years
Reports from various departmentsof the Ministry of Agriculture(MoA) indicate that commendable
achievements have been registeredin different areas over the past 30
independence years. According to thereports, many agricultural productsthat were previously imported fromneighboring countries are now being
produced in the country. The MoA has
also revised its policy and strategy inaccordance with the current farming
environment. Furthermore, few years
ago, the MoA developed a clear
strategy for small-holder farmers(the Minimum Integrated Household
Agricultural Package [MIHAP]) andfor small- and medium-commercial
farmers.
The following is a brief outline ofsome of the major achievements inthe agricultural sector during theperiod 1991 to 2021.
Natural Resources Management
Located in the Sub-saharan partof Africa, Eritrea receives low anderratic annual rainfall. Moreover,
its landscape is characterized byrugged terrains that exposes theland to erosion and degradation. Asa result, conserving soil and water
has been one of the top priorities in
the country’s national agriculturalstrategy. Since independence, theGovernment of the State of Eritrea(GSE) has invested considerable
resources into rehabilitating degraded
land and constructing water-holding
structures of varying sizes and types.
Reports from the Natural Resourcesand Irrigation Development Divisionof the MoA indicate that a totalof 257,000 hectares of land hasbeen treated with different kindsof structures and around 4.5
million cubic meter of check-damsconstructed by different popular
campaigns.
One of the notable achievements overthe past 30 years is the substantial
increase in number of water-holding
structures. At independence, there
were only 138 ponds and dams in
the country. Currently, however, thefigure is 785. Thanks to this progress,
the total area of irrigated land has
increased approximately fivefold.
To help reinforce these endeavors,
the GSE also launched a National
Greening Campaign in 2006, followedby the establishment of the Forestand Wildlife Authority in 2012. The
campaign has made a significant
and positive contribution to naturalresources management in thecountry, including through helping
instill a culture of tree planting
and soil and water conservation

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within communities. Since 2006,
around 45 million tree seedlings
have been planted in catchments,
along roadsides, schools, various
public spaces, and on the grounds ofdifferent government and religious
institutions. In addition, a large
percentage of land has been classified
as protected and placed within
enclosures, supporting biodiversity
and the recovery of wildlife.
To reduce the cutting of trees
for firewood, an improved, more
efficient, and safer stove was designed
and manufactured by energy experts.
The stove, which in Tigrigna is known
as ‘Adhanet’, has helped to reduce
the use of wood for fuel significantly(it is estimated as high as nearly 50percent). At present, about 170,000
improved stoves have been installed
throughout the country, covering
approximately 50 percent of thepotential users in rural areas. During
the manufacturing and dissemination
phases, over 17,000 women received
training and skills development
support.

Crop Production
Since many of the crops traditionallycommon in the country had
deteriorated greatly over many
years due to disease, drought, andother factors, crop production andproductivity was not satisfactory
until independence. However, since1991, the GSE has been working to
expand research on crop varieties.
The National Agricultural ResearchInstitute (NARI) has conductedmany trials seeking to develop
and distribute crop varieties which
are resistant to drought, resilient
against disease, and high-yielding.
Since 1991, NARI has developed
and released 45 crop seed varieties,
comprising 16 varieties of wheat, 10varieties of sorghum, seven varietiesof barley, six varieties of pear millet,
three varieties of maize, two varietiesof legume, and one variety of oil
seed. More than 7000 quintals offoundation seeds of these varieties
have been distributed nationwide
for multiplication purposes. For mostcrops, these improved seed varieties
have increased productivity by atleast twofold. In general, the areaof land cultivated with cereal crop
has increased from 327,000 hectares(1992) to 500,091 hectares (2020).
Horticultural Production
During Italian colonial rule, Eritrea
was an exporter of fruits andvegetables. However, during thefollowing decades, due to several

factors, including droughts and along, destructive war, growth andproduction plummeted.
To help revive the sector, the GSE
invested in the construction of
many
water-holding
structures
across the country, imported various
agricultural machineries, supported
the introduction of different
technologies, and distributed a
massive amount of agricultural
supplies, including improved seeds,fertilizers, and pesticides.
In 1992, only 4,921 hectares ofland was covered with fruits andvegetables. By 2020, the amount ofland irrigated by horticulture farmers
in the country reached 21,987
hectares.
When it comes to production, a totalof 1,330 tons of fruits and 42,579 tonsof vegetables were being harvested

per year during the first year ofindependence. However, at present,
those production figures haveincreased to 94,331 tons for fruits
and 253,225 tons for vegetables. As aresult, consumers across most parts ofthe country are able to access quality
fruits and vegetables throughout theyear at reasonable prices.
What is more, while in 1992, thenumber of farmers who wereengaged in the production of fruits
and vegetables was about 1557, thatfigure has increased to reach 11,523.
NARI, for its part, has played an
important role in introducing
improved varieties of many vegetable
crops, including potato, onion,pepper, tomato, cabbage, lettuce,and Swiss-chard. Reports indicatethat over the years, 147 varietiesof vegetable seeds (e.g., potatoes,tomatoes, garlic, sweet potatoes, andhot pepper) and 125 fruit varieties(e.g., papaya, mango, citrus, banana,and date palm) have been imported
for research purposes.
Various field and laboratory trials havebeen conducted to test productivity,
maturity period within different agroecological settings, and resistanceto diseases and pests. Following
numerous
andcomprehensive
research trials, 27 vegetable seedvarieties and 21 fruit seed varieties
have been found to be viable anddistributed to local farmers.

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livestock disease and mortality iscurrently very low.
More important, in order to enhance
livestock health, the MoA also offers
free and reduced cost services inanimal clinics in all regions and subregions of the country.

Within this sub-sector, one of thenotable achievements has been
the tangible improvement inpotato production. More than 70
varieties of potato were imported
for adaptability trials. Out of these,around 10 varieties were found to be
successful and distributed to farmers.
At present, the average potato yield
is about 350 quintals per hectare,which is nearly triple the previous
productivity levels (130 quintals perhectare).
According NARI, an encouraging
onion variety, locally known as ‘hagaz’
and which has been tested for thepast couple of years, is close to being
distributed to local farmers. Someof the advantages of this variety are
its pungency and the fact that it hasless risk of splitting and pre-maturebolting.

Rinderpest was one of the major
animal diseases that farmers sufferedfrom for many years. Starting from1991, the GSE managed to vaccinate
around 800,000 livestock annuallyand the disease was eradicated in
1997; and an official certificate oferadication was given in 2005 by theWorld Animal Health Organization.
In 2003, the MoA expanded its
programs to offer an annual free andcompulsory vaccination program formajor animal and zoonotic diseases,including foot and mouth disease,
lumpy skin disease, Peste des petits(PPR), brucellosis, rabies, and others.
An average of 2.5 million livestock get
vaccinated annually and as a result

As a final note, some of the major
and popular fruits in Eritrea include
bananas, oranges, lemons, papayas,mandarins, guava, date palms,mangoes, and more recently, peaches
and apples.
Animal Production and Health
At independence, one of the pressing
challenges for farmers was livestockmortality. Many animals succumbedto different diseases, such asrinderpest.

3In addition to the above, the MoA
has made efforts to strengthen theNational Animal and Plant Health
Laboratory. Presently, the laboratoryis helping to diagnose animal andplant diseases and pests, while also
ensuring quality and safety of animaland plant products. Furthermore, it
is supporting the establishment andstrengthening of laboratories in zobas
across the country.
Poultry Production
Prior to independence, poultry
production in Eritrea was mainly
restricted to local chicken rearing
by rural households. In 1992, theMoA imported 1,100 parent stock
chicks and 20,000 first generation
chicks to introduce semi-commercialpoultry. Over the years, a total of
112,000 parent stock and 2.8 million
first generation chicks have been
imported and distributed to smallscale and commercial farmers, whichis to the tune of over 6 million chicks,
imported and locally reproduced inhatcheries.

Since June 2020, the MoA has
distributed over a million one-monthold backyard chicks to more than
40,000 households in towns and rural
areas.
Reports
fromthePoultry
Development Unit of the MoA
indicate that there were almost nocommercial poultry farms beforeindependence. Currently, there are
47 small and medium poultry farms
which have a capacity to hold from
5,000 – 22,000 chicks at a time. In
addition, there are hundreds of verysmall farms that hold below 5,000chicks.
Another commendable achievementin this sub-sector is the constructionof chick brooding stations in all
regions of the country. A variety ofincubators and hatchers that have acapacity to incubate and hatch from3,400 up to 120,000 chicks at a time
have been imported.
Thanks to these various efforts anddevelopments, consumers acrossEritrea are able to access quality,
nutritious poultry products year
around and at a fair price. Also, poultry
farming has become an increasingly
viable livelihood for many individuals
and households.
Beekeeping
Before 1991, beekeeping was only
practiced in rural areas and withtraditional beehives. In 1992, thenumber of traditional bee hives
was only 19,000. Shortly afterindependence, however, the MoA

began to transform the sub-sector,
supporting the development ofsemi-commercial and commercial
initiatives and importing many
modern frame hives and accessories.
To date, there are more than 30,000
bee colonies in modern frame
hives, traditional hives and top bar
hives. Consequently, national honeyproduction has doubled while thenumber of beekeepers has grown by
over 50 percent.
Regulatory Services
From 2003, the MoA, through its
Regulatory Services Department(RSD), has been working tostrengthen its inspection capacity toensure that safe agricultural products
are sold in the market. Moreover,since the improper use of agriculturalchemicals, both pesticides and drugs
not only affect food safety but also
impact the environment and humanhealth, their use and management

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have been a major focus of RSD
inspection. As part of this effort, thedepartment conducted an inventory
in 294 pesticide stores in 2007, wherenearly 400 tons of obsolete pesticides
were stored. This stock was properly
safeguarded and stored in strategic
locations suitable for transportand eventual disposal. The MoA
successfully disposed of 365 tonsof obsolete pesticides, which wastransported to Liverpool, England for
disposal through high temperatureincineration.
Furthermore,very
intensive
inspection activities were carriedout to avoid contamination ofhorticultural crops, mainly tomato
fruits, through the use of excessive
pesticide application, particularly
during harvest time.
Plant and animal quarantine
inspection services are also very
important activities of the RSD.
There are entry points, located atinternational airports, seaports
and land ports, where imported
agricultural produce are inspected
for the presence of any exotic pests
and diseases, while all exported
agricultural produce are properly
inspected and subsequently givena health certificate, testifying thatsuch products are free from any pests
and diseases. It should also be notedthat import and export of agriculturalproduce cannot be carried out
without securing permits from RSD

The strategy has been reinforced byextensive surveillance in breedingareas and establishing a numberof duty or surveillance stations, aswell as utilizing vehicles and scouts.
Annually, surveillance is carried out
across roughly 500,000 hectares ofpotential breeding areas.
According to reports from theMigratory Pests Control Unit, desert
locust infestations have occurred in 18
different years since independence.
In the years 1995, 2006/2007,2013/2014, 2020, serious infestations
and invasions covering areas ranging
from 51,000 – 101,000 hectares ofland occurred.
for its effective implementation. In
that regard, over 3000 import andexport permits were issued to various
animal and plant resources andagrochemicals over the years.
The RSD also endeavors to makesure that, to the extent possible, all
livestock and livestock products, aswell as plant and plant products,
being sold in the local market, havethe necessary national quality andsafety standards. A good example isthe inspection of small scale yogurt
processing plants, which are mainly
located in Asmara. Before 10 years,there was no yogurt processing plantin Eritrea. Currently, there are about
16 yogurt processing plants, which
produce safe yogurt to the market.
This achievement is the result of thehigh encouragement made by theMoA to these plants, while at thesame time the RSD making very closemonitoring to ensure safety.
In this connection, it should be notedthat all animal and plant products
processing plants as well as animal
feed processing plants are obliged
to get certificate of qualification
which ensures that the plant has therequired hygienic standards annually.
Control of Migratory Pests
Eritrea is one of the frontline
countries for migratory pests ingeneral and desert locust breedingin particular. Over the years, Eritrea
has followed a preventive strategy
that focuses on controlling locusts
before they mature or begin flying.

Recently, desert locust control
operations
werereinforced
through the participation of theEritrean Defense Forces (EDF), localadministrations, and communities. As
part of the control operations, over1,200 experts, along with over 200,000
EDF members
and community
residents, have participated inpractical training programs andworkshops. These initiatives havefocused on prevention, desert locustmanagement, and information about
safe use of pesticides.
In summation, as a result of thecoordinated and widespread efforts,
the damage to crops and rangelands
by migratory pests, such as desert
locusts, has not been significant.
***Editor-In-Chief: Ermias Solomon, Director, Public Relations Division
Email:- ersohab@gmail.com, Tel: 182225/ 07143877/ 07182662, Asmara, Eritrea
Editorial board:-Filmawit Measho, Shushan Okbay, Sophia Fekadu
Photo credit: Aradom Bereket, Habteab Andemariam, MoA Photo Archives

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