Assessing the Status of Precision Farming for Sustainable Productivity of Horticultural Crops in Ethiopia

Horticultural crop production plays an essential role in Ethiopia’s agricultural sector by enhancing food security, generating employment, improving nutrition, and earning foreign exchange. However, productivity remains low due to the continued reliance on conventional farming practices; rain‐fed production systems, and limited use of advanced technologies. Precision farming has emerged as a promising approach for improving agricultural productivity and sustainability through the application of geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), remote sensing, sensors, drones, and mobile‐based advisory services. This review analyzes the current status, challenges, and opportunities of precision farming for enhancing sustainable horticultural productivity in Ethiopia based on published articles. The review indicates that although irrigated horticultural production is expanding, the adoption of precision farming remains at an early stage, and the strength of evidence differs substantially among technologies: drip irrigation and irrigation scheduling have comparatively stronger Ethiopian field evidence, while greenhouse automation, digital advisory, remote sensing, drones, Internet‐of‐Things (IoT), and AI remain less validated under smallholder conditions. Major barriers include the high cost of technologies, inadequate technological infrastructure, limited technical expertise, and institutional constraints. Nevertheless, expanding digital agriculture, improved irrigation systems, mobile‐based advisory services, and government support for climate‐smart agriculture offer significant opportunities for wider adoption. Future research should prioritize affordable precision farming technologies and strengthen extension services to accelerate sustainable horticultural development in Ethiopia.