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News: U.S. ships nearly 47,000 tons of wheat, sorghum to Ethiopia amid continuing debate over wheat self-sufficiency
https://addisstandard.com/u-s-ships-nea ... fficiency/
July 18, 2026
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Addis Abeba – A U.S.-flagged cargo vessel carrying nearly 47,000 metric tons of American-grown food commodities is en route to Ethiopia as part of Washington’s emergency food assistance program, underscoring the country’s continued reliance on humanitarian grain shipments despite official claims of wheat self-sufficiency.
The Liberty Glory departed Houston, Texas, transporting about 37,700 metric tons of sorghum and 9,200 metric tons of wheat under the U.S. government’s Food for Peace program. The vessel is currently sailing toward East Africa after crossing the Atlantic and rounding the southern tip of Africa, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. agricultural industry groups.
The shipment comes days after the USDA announced an agreement in principle with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to provide up to US$235 million in emergency food and nutrition https://addisstandard.com/news-catholic ... pia-sudan/ assistance for Ethiopia and Sudan.
According to the USDA, the package will mobilize more than 110,000 metric tons of U.S.-grown agricultural commodities for millions of people facing acute hunger and malnutrition through humanitarian operations, including the Joint Emergency Operation in Ethiopia and the Sudan Emergency Project.
The latest assistance arrives amid continued discrepancies https://addisstandard.com/news-ethiopia ... -magazine/ between the Ethiopian government’s assertions that the country has achieved wheat self-sufficiency and independent assessments indicating continued import requirements.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Ministry of Agriculture have repeatedly maintained that Ethiopia has ended commercial wheat imports, https://addisstandard.com/ethiopia-govt ... kepticism/ achieved self-sufficiency through expanded irrigation and cluster farming, and has begun exporting wheat. Government officials have also argued that any wheat entering the country is intended solely as humanitarian assistance for refugees rather than domestic consumption.
In January 2025, Melese Mekonen (PhD), State Minister for Agriculture and Horticulture Development, said Ethiopia has not imported wheat for the four years,
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attributing the shift to increased domestic production. he said, adding that domestic output now meets national demand and has enabled the government to save the approximately US$! Billion it previously spent each year on wheat imports.It has been four years since we stopped importing wheat,
However, a USDA report released in April projects Ethiopia’s wheat production at 7.0 million metric tons in the 2026/27 marketing year, an eight percent increase from the previous season, driven by expanded irrigation, improved seed adoption and mechanization. Despite the expected production growth, the report forecasts 1.4 million metric tons of wheat and wheat-product imports https://addisstandard.com/ethiopia-whea ... ion-gains/ to meet domestic demand.
The report estimates Ethiopia’s wheat consumption will reach 8.2 million metric tons, citing population growth, urbanization and increasing demand for wheat-based foods, while also noting continued price pressures linked to currency depreciation, rising fuel costs and higher agricultural input prices.
The USDA assessment also contrasts with official production figures. While Ethiopian authorities have reported harvests exceeding 23 million metric tons in recent seasons, joint assessments by the African Development Bank, https://addisstandard.com/u-s-ships-nea ... fficiency/# the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the USDA have estimated national wheat output at less than half of the government’s reported volumes.
Independent market assessments likewise indicate that Ethiopia continues to depend on imported wheat. According to the USDA, Russia remains the country’s largest wheat supplier, accounting for about 68% of imports, followed by Ukraine and Romania.
The latest U.S. food shipment also comes amid persistent humanitarian needs driven by conflict, displacement, and mounting climate-related risks.
In May 2026, Addis Standard reported a warning by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) that the emerging El Niño phenomenon could suppress rainfall https://addisstandard.com/early-warning ... el-shocks/ across the Horn of Africa later this year, threatening crop production in Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda.
The warning has coincided with reports of crop failures in parts of Ethiopia. Farmers in lowland districts of East Bale and West Hararghe told Addis Standard that the premature cessation of the Belg (spring) rains destroyed most early-planted crops after rainfall stopped https://addisstandard.com/farmers-say-c ... elg-rains/ during the critical crop development stage.
Residents in Sewena Woreda of East Bale Zone said lowland kebeles stretching toward the Somali Region experienced widespread crop losses. A resident of Qasho Dambali kebele said the Belg rains ceased almost immediately after farmers completed planting, leaving crops to wither before maturity.
