Page 16 - AA 2026

Comoros

Agriculture mechanisation, rural road construction

will reduce poverty and strengthen

Agriculture is the foundation of account for over 70% of the popula- demand
economic survival and social cohe- tion’s nutritional calorie intake. Fur- Despite these challenges, invest-
sion in Comoros. As of 2023, it con- ther, weak crop yields due to archaic ments in producing and processing
tributed around 34.5% to GDP and cropping practices, limited access to rice, corn, vegetables, poultry, va-
employed over 70% of the working quality inputs and financing sources, nilla, ylang-ylang, cloves and fisher-
population, particularly in rural areas and the near-absence of irrigation ies are increasingly seen as drivers
where alternative sources of income infrastructure (less than 2% of culti- of food security and economic di-
are limited. This contribution makes vated land) limit the country’s agri- versification. While food crops face
agriculture central to both national cultural capacity. Post-harvest losses productivity constraints, high-value
identity and prospects for inclusive remain high, up to 30% in some prod- export crops have benefited from tar-
development. However, its strategic ucts, due to inadequate storage and geted initiatives, established trade
importance is compromised by weak transport systems. Climate change networks and international demand.
rural infrastructure, outdated farm- exacerbates these problems with These products, notably ylang-
ing practices, land tenure insecurity, increasingly irregular rainfall, pro- ylang, vanilla and cloves, generate
barriers to financing and additional longed dry spells and more frequent 86% of Comoros’ export revenues:
climate pressures that are limiting extreme weather events. These cloves contribute 71%, vanilla 4%
domestic agricultural production, conditions disproportionately affect and ylang-ylang essential oils 11%.
leading to high food imports. Comoros is the leading global pro-
small-scale farmers, who are the
Comoros faces an alarming imbal- mainstay of Comorian agriculture, ducer of ylang-ylang, producing
ance in food trade, with domestic ag- but who often lack the necessary around 70% of the world’s supply,
ricultural production covering only tools to adapt or invest. which represents 50 to 70 tons per
between 40 and 45% of the country’s year out of a total consumption of
total food needs, while between 70 Comoros’ food imports will con- 100 to 120 tons. The country is also
and 90% of supplies need to be im- tinue to grow over the next 20 years the world’s fourth-largest exporter
ported, depending on the product. Agricultural demand and produc- of cloves, behind Tanzania, Mada-
This gap has led to a growing depen- tion measured in million metric tons, gascar and Indonesia. Furthermore,
dence on food imports, particularly and import dependence as net agri- Comoros has good land potential for
of rice and wheat, which together cultural imports as a % of agricultural agriculture.
14 Arab Agriculture 2026