Ethiopia's Agricultural Transformation Drives Foreign Exchange Earnings

In recent years, Ethiopia's agricultural sector has undergone significant transformation, shifting from relying heavily on wheat imports to becoming a key source of foreign exchange earnings.

The country had been spending as much as $1 billion annually on wheat imports, but the expansion of domestic production has since altered this picture. In 2025, Ethiopia produced 280 million quintals of wheat, replacing 2.6 million quintals of imports and saving an average of $1 billion annually.

The coffee sector is another major contributor to Ethiopia's foreign exchange earnings, with the country exporting over 470,000 tonnes of coffee in the 2024/25 fiscal year and earning approximately $2.65 billion. Coffee export earnings reached a new record of $3 billion in the current fiscal year.

The government's efforts to expand value-added coffee exports reflect its ambition to capture a larger share of the value generated beyond the farm gate, rather than relying predominantly on exports of raw beans.