ANNUAL REPORT TRANSFORMING AGRICULTURE IN ETHIOPIA

Transcription

1 2012 ANNUAL REPORT TRANSFORMING AGRICULTURE IN ETHIOPIA

2 Innovations to help our country grow.

3 A MESSAGE FROM THE CEO 2 At the time of this writing, the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency is completing its first full year of operations, which is a perfect time to reflect on the work we ve accomplished to date, and to consider the way forward. For the ATA, 2012 has been a year of great progress. Firstly, the organization has grown from an idea on paper with just a few dedicated staff members, into a fully functioning government organization supporting a variety of interventions across the country. More importantly, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, during 2012 the ATA initiated a number of strategic, high-impact interventions that are poised to fundamentally transform the Ethiopian agriculture sector in the coming years. We were incredibly fortunate that one of the ATA s early efforts, the introduction of new agronomic practices to smallholder tef farmers, conducted in partnership with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, has resulted in average yield increases of at least 30-80% compared to national averages. Based on the success of initial trials, in 2012, the Regional Bureaus of Agriculture worked with partners to reach nearly 200,000 early adopting farmers with this new technology, and plans are already underway to scale this effort to over one million farmers in These efforts, and the many other interventions currently underway and planned, are the shared product of a broad collection of partners who have joined together in the common goal to transform the lives of Ethiopia s smallholder farmers. Most important has been the leadership, guidance, and stewardship provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Regional Bureaus of Agriculture. Our development partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, UNDP, USAID, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, CIDA, the Nike Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation have also been a source of both financial support and critical thought partnership. We are also very grateful to the various private sector partners, both domestic and international, that are participating in our efforts through investments and trade, as well as the many local and international NGOs and members of the Ethiopian civil society such as the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences and the Synergos Institute. Ultimately, however, the most significant contributions come from the tens of thousands of Development Agents at Farmer Training Centers who are delivering knowledge and support directly to the farmers throughout Ethiopia, and the dedicated members and administrators of the country s more than 10,000 agriculture related primary cooperatives and unions. Of course all of our efforts are inspired by the more than 12.5 million smallholder farmers who are embracing the challenge to innovate and improve; a challenge that requires a small risk of faith and a large outpouring of hard work; a challenge which promises to help them better support their families and ensure that Ethiopia achieves its goal of national food security and long-term economic development for many generations to come. The entire staff at the ATA will continue to strive tirelessly to see these promises fulfilled. Khalid Bomba Chief Executive Officer Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency 3

4 CONTENTS 1. Introduction/Overview History Mission Mandate Structure Approach 2. Highlights from 2012 Tef Technology Trials EthioSIS The Ethiopian Soil Information System Public/Private Partnerships Agricultural Cooperatives 3. Program Updates Seed Cooperatives Soil Health & Fertility Input & Output Markets Research & Extension Tef Wheat, Maize & Barley Pulses & Oilseeds Household Irrigation Technology Access & Adoption Public Private Partnerships Climate Adaption & Environmental Sustainability Gender Mainstreaming Monitoring, Learning & Evaluation 4. The Way Forward

5 CHANGE GENERALLY COMES IN ONE OF TWO WAYS: BY DEFAULT, OR BY DESIGN. OUR HISTORY 6 The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency was created to make a focused and concerted effort toward promoting real and positive change. By proactively assessing the current state of Ethiopia s agriculture sector, our objective is to work with all key stakeholders to identify the barriers to progress and prosperity, and then to formulate strategies to address these systemic bottlenecks. We do this by designing and supporting innovative, case-specific solutions aimed at increasing crop productivity, maximizing economic efficiencies, and streamlining the routes to market. The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency is the result of a nearly twoyear, and somewhat fortuitous process which began back in January 2009 when Ethiopia s late Prime Minister Meles had an important meeting with Melinda Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Eager to drive improvement across Ethiopia s agriculture sector, and aware of the work the Gates Foundation had been doing throughout much of Africa, Prime Minister Meles requested that the Foundation facilitate a strategic review of Ethiopia s agricultural extension system. The Gates Foundation complied and, in September 2009, through a process led by the Ministry of Agriculture, a diagnostic report on the extension system was completed. Based on a positive response to this report, Prime Minister Meles endorsed the recommendations from the diagnostic assessment of the extension system, and requested support for additional diagnostics in other vital areas, such as seeds, soils, irrigation, agricultural finance, and several key value chains. One year later, in August 2010, seven completed diagnostics, along with an integrated report on the Ethiopian agriculture system, were submitted to the Prime Minister. The report included a recommendation for the establishment of an independent organization, modeled after the acceleration units that had proved successful in several other countries, such as Taiwan and South Korea. Two months later, the Government of Ethiopia announced its intention to establish such an independent organization, and in December 2010, the Ethiopian Council of Ministers passed a federal regulation establishing the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA). After several months of organizing and recruiting, in August 2011, the first meeting of the Agricultural Transformation Council, the governing body of the ATA, was held under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister. Despite the untimely death of Prime Minister Meles in August 2012, the ATA has continued to receive tremendous support from Prime Minister Hailemariam who continues to chair the Agricultural Transformation Council. Furthermore, Prime Minister Hailemariam has spearheaded a number of initiatives through the ATA, illustrating his recognition of the catalytic role that the ATA can play in transforming Ethiopia s agriculture sector. 7

6 OUR MISSION OUR MANDATE 8 The ATA exists to be a catalyst for the transformation and growth of Ethiopia s agriculture sector. We do this by working with other partners to put in place solutions that provide the country s smallholder farmers with access to new and improved technologies and techniques, stronger linkages to markets, and strengthened infrastructure and systems. The aim of all our efforts is to help increase farmer productivity and improve livelihoods. The ATA is committed to facilitating this transformation by supporting and enhancing the capabilities of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, and other public, private, and non-governmental partners, through problem solving, implementation support, capacity building, and stakeholder coordination. 1 2 TWO KEY CHALLENGES TO TRANSFORMING ETHIOPIA S AGRICULTURE SECTOR A narrow approach to sectoral change. In the past, many projects and programs have focused on selected aspects of the sector, often leading to disconnected interventions that fail to address the root causes of low agricultural productivity. As a result, many initiatives do not achieve the cohesion and integration required for success at scale. In addition, individual programs are frequently not tailored or adapted to local conditions in different regions of the country. Lack of implementation capability. Many large-scale initiatives lack the appropriate mindsets or operational skills needed for sustained success. Even projects that are well designed and well resourced often fail to meet objectives due to a lack of strong project management and systematic implementation. The ATA s mandate is to support the achievement of the Government of Ethiopia s agriculture sector targets as articulated in the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme Compact, the Policy and Investment Framework, and other key government strategies. At its core, the ATA is focused on fostering greater on-farm productivity through a renewed push for commercialization, diversification, coping strategies for household resilience, and natural resource management. Ultimately, the ATA will measure itself against the GTP targets for growth, food security, and poverty reduction. More specifically, the ATA is mandated to: the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute, and regional, private sector, and civil society partners to facilitate the identification of systemic bottlenecks in priority areas and to develop national strategies and solutions to address them technical assistance, and knowledge sharing to implementing partners local levels, in order to make measurable and sustainable improvements within prioritized program areas using tested approaches of program delivery Strengthen linkages and coordination among stakeholders to reduce duplication and inefficiency while enhancing accountability mechanisms, in order to reach agreed upon milestones and objectives that transform the agriculture sector and lead to middle-income country status The purpose of the ATA is not to replace or supplant any part of the Ministry of Agriculture or other public sector partners. In contrast, the Agency is intended to build sufficient capacity among its partners and other stakeholders in order that the ATA can and will cease to exist in the future. The programs, staffing model, and operating principles of the Agency are all explicitly designed with this goal in mind. 9

7 OUR STRUCTURE OUR APPROACH: A TWO-TIERED PROCESS 10 The ATA s mandate and organizational structure are focused around three broad areas: Crop and livestock value chains (such as wheat, maize, tef, and sorghum): As the basis of Ethiopia s agriculture sector, these crops cover the largest number of smallholder farmers, and are critical to food security at the household, community, and national level, as well as overall economic development. Systems areas (such as seeds, cooperatives, and soil health): These basic building blocks of the crop value chains must be addressed at a structural level, in order to ensure sustainable transformation within any value chain and the agriculture sector as a whole. Crosscutting Initiatives (such as gender mainstreaming and climate change): These areas deal with critical issues that must inform and strengthen each of the value chains and systems program areas to ensure that all interventions minimize unintended consequences and lead to long-term holistic development. TEF WHEAT MAIZE BARLEY PULSES OILSEEDS RICE* COFFEE* LIVESTOCK* SORGHUM* * to be launched in the future OUR PROGRAMMATIC WORK IS FOCUSED ON THREE KEY AREAS: VALUE CHAINS INITIATIVES SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY ACCESS & ADOPTION CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS GENDER MAINSTREAMING MONITORING, LEARNING & EVALUATION SEED COOPERATIVES SOIL HEALTH & FERTILITY HOUSEHOLD IRRIGATION INPUT & OUTPUT MARKETS RESEARCH & EXTENSION ETHIOSIS Within each of our program areas, the work of the ATA is divided into two distinct phases. The first phase is dominated by strategy development. The second is the coordination of partners and stakeholders to begin executing the strategies, or what we call implementation support. Strategy Development: Each ATA team begins with a strategic assessment of their particular area of focus, engaging with key stakeholders, partners, and related government agencies. This includes a review of the current state of the sector, the identification of systemic bottlenecks, and recommendations for targeted interventions to reach a medium and long-term vision. Clear examples of best practices are also sought, both from within Ethiopia and abroad. Most importantly, the ATA works with the Ministry of Agriculture and the stakeholders to refine these best practices, ensuring relevance and adaptation to the local context. When the strategic assessment is completed, the results are then articulated in a Vision & Roadmap document, which is shared and validated with the stakeholders before being expanded into a full Sector Development Strategy. Once the formal Sector Strategy is endorsed by the Transformation Council, it is officially launched, serving both as a guideline for the second phase of the process, and as an important ongoing reference for the sector on the whole. Implementation Support: Rather than simply generating strategies and suggestions for improvement, the ATA s mandate directs the Agency to support and follow up on the implementation of these solutions. We do this by coordinating implementing partners, helping to build their capacity, and catalyzing necessary funding, when needed. All of our efforts are intended to ensure that partners have the required support to achieve the agreed upon implementation targets, as articulated in the Sector Strategies and endorsed by the Transformation Council. It s important to note that direct implementation of interventions is not a primary function of the ATA. Outside of exceptional circumstances approved by the Transformation Council, implementation of the recommended interventions are to be led by other existing agencies and partners, with the ATA providing only a supporting role to ensure that objectives and milestones are achieved on schedule. 11

8 SEED 90% of seed reaching farmers Highlights

9 THE PRACTICE OF TEF FARMING IN ETHIOPIA HAS REMAINED VIRTUALLY UNCHANGED FOR HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF YEARS. HOW DO YOU SHOW 6.5 MILLION TEF FARMERS A BETTER WAY? 14 In recent years, Ethiopian farmers have begun planting many of their crops in rows, including wheat, maize, barley and sorghum. They ve come to realize this basic process yields better results, reducing competition among individual plants and allowing each one to receive more sunlight, water, and nutrients from the soil. But when it comes to the country s national grain, tef, farmers are still following the traditional practice of broadcasting the seeds; manually scattering them at an average rate of anywhere between 30 and 50 kg/hectare. The quantity of seed represents a significant expense for tef farmers, but the thinking has always been: more seed in, more tef out. Three years ago, however, while working with Sasakawa Africa Association, and the staff at the Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, Dr. Tareke Berhe (the ATA s Tef Director) began experimenting with another way. If row planting worked for most other crops, why couldn t it work for tef? The challenges were significant, as tef seeds are extremely small, making the prospect of planting them individually a daunting task. Through trial and testing, however, Dr. Tareke and the Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center confirmed what they suspected: reduce the seed rate to a mere 3-5 kg/hectare, plant them in rows, and yields go significantly up with stronger, taller plants producing stronger stalks, and more grains per stalk. Factor in the savings on inputs (seeds) and the net profit potential is even more impressive. By reducing the seed rate and planting in rows, it was found that farmers could potentially double their tef yields. Unfortunately a host of factors, including a lack of modern planting technologies, limited agricultural extension resources, and a resistance to adopting practices that seem counterintuitive has, in the past, resulted in low adoption rates for these types of technologies. However, the federal and regional infrastructure has been strengthened in recent years to tackle many of these challenges. As such, during the main planting season of 2011, the Ministry of Agriculture, the ATA, and the Regional Bureaus and extension system initiated a largescale trial of these new technologies. Demonstrations were made with 1,430 farmers and 90 Farmer Training Centers (FTCs), which resulted in a ~50-80% yield improvement compared to the national averages. Based on the success of these initial trials, the Transformation Council and the Ministry of Agriculture encouraged the Regional BoAs to popularize these technologies in high-yielding zones during the 2012 planting season. A target was initially set to reach 70,000 farmers, however, given the clear impact potential these technologies held, it was then agreed to more than double the target number of farmers, in a catchment area that included nearly 2.5 million farming households. Attempting to achieve this massive objective in such a condensed timeframe took a monumental effort on the part of all stakeholders involved, particularly the extension workers and the regional agriculture bureaus. Over the course of just three weeks, in June/July 2012, 26,472 Development Agents, Subject Matter Specialists, and regional staff in 6,734 high-producing tef kebeles in the four major agricultural Regions (Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray) were trained in the new agronomic practices. They in turn then passed on this knowledge to nearly 500,000 farmers at training sessions held at FTCs throughout the regions. In addition to reduced seed rate and row planting, other advances being introduced to the farmers include improved varieties, such as Kuncho and Cr-37, transplanting techniques, and threshing technology to help reduce post-harvest losses. During the 2012 planting season, 161,847 farmers immediately implemented these new technologies, with preliminary indications of yield increases at or well above the trial results (50-80% over national averages). Additionally, the more than 300,000 other farmers who were trained on these new technologies but did not adopt them in 2012 provide an excellent starting point for additional scale-up during the upcoming 2013 planting season. 15

10 DAP AND UREA HAVE LONG BEEN THE STANDARD FERTILIZER APPLICATIONS FOR CEREAL CROPS IN ETHIOPIA, REGARDLESS OF REGION, CROP, OR ACTUAL SOIL NEEDS. REFINING THIS WILL FINALLY PUT ETHIOPIA S SOILS ON THE MAP. 16 As all agronomists know, there are 13 vital nutrients that plants must draw from the soil in order to maximize their health, productivity, and yield. Of these, however, only two, nitrogen and phosphorus, in the form of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea, have historically been added to Ethiopian soils at scale. Specifically, the recommendation in Ethiopia has typically called for adding 100 kilograms of each per hectare, without regard for the existing concentrations in the particular soil. This standardized application has been passed down to farmers through various forms of the nation s agricultural extension system for the past 30 years (since a soil fertility map was developed by FAO in the early 1980s); a simplified, streamlined approach necessitated by economic and logistical constraints. In reality, of course, every type of soil has its own unique chemical composition, as well as physical and biological characteristics, and therefore its own supplemental needs. The only way to prescribe the ideal combination of fertilizers to use for any given soil is to test a representative sample of the actual soil in question. EthioSIS, the Ethiopian Soil Information System, is a firstof-its-kind, digital soil mapping project currently being undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture, in partnership with the Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS) and UNDP, with support from the ATA. When completed, EthioSIS will provide a much more detailed database of Ethiopia s soils, including localized fertility estimations to inform differentiated fertilizer recommendations. This ambitious process started in November 2011 by laying a virtual grid over Ethiopia s surface land area. With lines intersecting at each 1-degree of latitude and longitude, the grid identified 82 confluence points to be sampled within the country; each representing a 10 x 10 km site within which soil is to be collected and analyzed. Not a single sample of soil, but approximately 1,120 samples from each of the 82 points. In total, the EthioSIS project will visit nearly 14,000 sites across the 82 confluence points, with more than 100,000 soil samples taken by the end of A portion of these samples will be archived in a national soil library in Kaliti, near Addis Ababa, for potential future analysis and learning. To accomplish this huge logistical task, teams of soil surveyors had to be recruited and trained. And in December 2011 the first EthioSIS team headed to their first confluence point at Bako to begin the soil collection phase. Since then, a total of 6 teams have been trained, armed with tablet computers donated by Samsung, and deployed simultaneously, with 34 of these confluence points completed as of December As the samples have begun to return from the field, the processing and analysis portion of the work has already begun. The National Soil Testing Center (NSTC) is spearheading the effort, which will feature cutting edge spectroscopy technology, offering much faster and more accurate projections on soil properties. An additional five labs across the country are also being outfitted to divide up the spectral analysis work. Meanwhile the NSTC lab will also conduct traditional wet chemistry tests on each of the samples, in order to crosscheck and calibrate the spectral results. 17

11 18 The information these tests yield is being entered into a new database, to be hosted at the Ministry of Agriculture s ICT Center, with technical support from Columbia University and AfSIS. These results will eventually be merged with existing remote-sensing datasets, such as SRTM and MODIS composites, to create a state-of-the-art fertility map, providing a framework for geostatistical projections of localized soil characteristics across Ethiopia. Once this new data-rich resource is ready, it will be shared directly with farmers and other stakeholders, through extension agents, online resources, SMS, and other platforms, providing them with more targeted soil fertility recommendations tailored to their specific geographies, crops, and soil types. Confluence Points completed (2012) Confluence Points to be sampled (2013) Detailed woreda mapping completed (2012) The EthioSIS effort will certainly include more precise recommendations for inorganic fertilizer. In parallel, a major effort is currently underway between the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute and the ATA, to develop more refined integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) strategies, including conservation agriculture technologies, which can complement inorganic fertilizer applications.

12 20 BEYOND JUST SHOWING FARMERS HOW TO GROW MORE CROPS, TRUE TRANSFORMATION REQUIRES LINKING FARMERS TO RELIABLE MARKETS SO THAT THEY CAN RECEIVE HIGHER INCOMES FROM THEIR PRODUCTION. Whether looking at the large percentage of subsistence farmers in Ethiopia who, when lucky, have small surplus crops to sell, or the established network of famers cooperatives and unions throughout the country, connecting these producers with commercial output markets will be the real key to achieving significant growth and prosperity throughout the rural sector. The ATA directs much of its focus on increasing production and yields across an array of different high-priority value chains. It is simultaneously necessary to start forging marketing partnerships and new commercial opportunities, to help farmers reap the highest revenues possible from their production. It s also equally important to identify more profitable value-added ventures and modalities in which smallholder farmers can link their production. This allows farmers to act as partners in such ventures, receiving all the benefits that entails. Although this crosscutting effort was not one of the initial focus areas for the ATA, it quickly became apparent that facilitating linkages between smallholder farmers (typically through cooperatives) and large commercial demand sinks would be a critical pathway to increasing the commercialization of smallholder farmers production and thereby improve their livelihoods. In April 2012, the ATA s Input & Output Markets team led the way by helping to negotiate a forward delivery contract between the Erer Cooperative Union and Mama Fresh and exporter. Through this arrangement, Mama Fresh has begun sourcing its tef directly from local smallholder farmers, starting with 720 metric tons of white magna tef delivered from the 2012 planting season. As part of the agreement, training in agronomic practices and principles of contract farming were provided to the Erer Cooperative farmers, helping to ensure the consistency and quality needed to meet Mama Fresh Injera s commercial standards. 30,000 metric tons of maize. The largest WFP Purchase for Progress (P4P) procurement from farmer cooperatives. Ever. Anywhere. On a similar but slightly larger scale, the ATA also helped to facilitate a barley sourcing pilot between two local cooperative unions, Robi Berga and Melka Awash, and the multinational giant Diageo, new owners of Meta Brewery, an Ethiopian beer producer. This agreement pre-finances inputs and extension work for 800 smallholder farmers in and around Sebeta to provide up to 1,000 metric tons of barley in the first year, with the goal of expanding the relationship in future years, based on its success and lessons learnt. The Diageo contract, which grew out of the ATA s engagement with the World Economic Forum s Grow Africa initiative, serves as a model that could be leveraged to develop reliable links between smallholders and commercial markets. Expanding to an even broader scale, in 2012 the ATA also partnered with the Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative at the World Food Programme, linking 16 cooperative unions in Amhara and Oromia to supply 30,000 metric tons of maize for WFP activities. The transaction included input financing, capacity building of cooperatives, infrastructure development, and training on contract enforcement. These types of contract farming activities are one of the most effective ways to link Ethiopian smallholders directly to end-markets, enabling them to generate pre-finance for inputs, produce a better quality, higher-value product, and to capture a bigger share of the product s value. This approach provides an alternative to the traditional practice of individual farmers selling solely to small traders immediately at harvest; traders who then go through several layers of aggregation before finally supplying the production to end-markets. To further maximize the commercial potential of Ethiopia s farmers, a Public Private Partnerships Unit which will support such activities is currently being incubated at the ATA. Building off the efforts in 2012, the PPP Unit will be testing and refining this forward delivery model with an aim toward promoting similar arrangements across several value chains, including wheat, tef, maize, chickpea, and sesame. Beyond enabling these commercial sourcing agreements, the new PPP team is also pursuing value-added business opportunities on behalf of Ethiopia s farmers, luring interest from domestic and international investors. 21

13 In partnership with the World Economic Forum s Grow Africa initiative, and the G8 s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition initiative, the ATA s PPP team is promoting investment initiatives in three specific areas: A chickpea flour processing facility that would satisfy the growing domestic and international demand for chickpea flour (including for hummus). In addition to the market opportunity created by this facility, increased chickpea production by smallholder farmers improves the soil health and fertility of the land under production, due to the nitrogen-fixing trait of the chickpea crop. 2. A malt barley facility intended to reduce the strain on the Assela Malt Factory that is operating at over 100% capacity and which will not be able to supply the growing domestic demand for beer due to population and demographic trends. 3. A sesame cleaning and hulling facility that will increase the domestic capture, since nearly 100% of the locally produced sesame is currently shipped as raw grain. In all of these cases, the ATA seeks to better link farmers, through cooperatives, into the agricultural and food processing supply chains, and whenever possible to include smallholder farmers in the ownership of the new facilities, thereby maximizing their full profit potential.

14 First stakeholder workshop hosted by FCA and ATA to discuss the current state and bottlenecks in the agricultural coop sector Series of consultations held with MoA, FCA, ATA, RCPAs, BoAs, coops and many other stakeholders to develop a Concept Note Cooperatives Concept Note upgraded to a Sector Strategy; agreed to by MoA, FCA, ATA, RCPAs, BoAs, and other key stakeholders 24 FARMERS ASSOCIATIONS AND COOPERATIVES CAN HAVE ENORMOUS POSITIVE IMPACT AROUND THE WORLD. IT S TIME THEY DID THE SAME FOR ETHIOPIA. There is little dispute about the significant benefits farmers associations (cooperatives and unions) can deliver to their members, and by extension to a country s agriculture sector and overall economy. The examples of Taiwan, India, and Vietnam, as well as Holland, Canada, and the United States, to name a few, show that cooperatives can be instrumental in sector transformation. At their core, agricultural cooperatives help solve collective action problems, such as how to distribute inputs most efficiently, and how to market farmers outputs on more favorable terms than they could achieve individually. Unfortunately, the experiences of agricultural cooperatives as a vehicle for development in Ethiopia, and to a great extent in Africa as a whole, have so far been mixed at best. The large-scale introduction of agricultural coops in the 1970s and 1980s, with compulsory membership, was associated with declining agricultural output per capita. And in Ethiopia, when farmers were allowed to join or leave cooperatives at will in 1991, cooperative membership fell drastically but yields rose. Certainly, there have been cooperative success stories in the region, including the dairy sector in Kenya, cotton in Mali, and even coffee in Ethiopia itself. However, to date, unlike other nations in Asia and Europe, no African country has achieved a sustained and large-scale increase in staple crop yields as a result of cooperative action. In fact, many cooperative development programs in Africa have failed to achieve their objectives or have even been counterproductive in some instances. These failings, however, are not indicative of the real potential of agricultural cooperatives, but rather of what can happen without proper organizational structuring, governance, and oversight in place at the local, regional, and federal levels. On a global level, however, countries with the highest share of cooperatives in marketed outputs (Taiwan, Korea, France, and the Netherlands, for example) also have high average yields for staple crops, like rice and wheat, as well as substantial cash crop exports. And as the 2008 World Development Report concluded, Producer organizations are essential to achieve competitiveness for small-scale producers. Through the first half of 2012, the ATA, the Federal Cooperative Agency (FCA), and other stakeholders worked to develop a national Agricultural Cooperatives Sector Development Strategy. This effort drew on best practices, from within Ethiopia and around the world, to identify current challenges and develop a roadmap for the systematic strengthening of Ethiopia s cooperatives and farmers associations. And on June 26, 2012, the national Agricultural Cooperatives Strategy was launched. The Sector Strategy goes into great detail to articulate a clear vision for the sector going forward, while identifying seven primary bottlenecks and associated interventions necessary to fulfill the potential of agricultural cooperatives in Ethiopia. The prioritized interventions include strategies to: develop an advanced certification system to gauge the performance of individual cooperatives; systematically strengthen the public sector audit, legal, and formation support services; overhaul the cooperatives financial and marketing systems; and establish a Cooperative College Center for Excellence. IN 2013 Ethiopian cooperatives began profitably exporting sesame for the first time ever. JUNE 2011 AUGUST 2011 Diagnostic of coop sector initiated in consultation with FCA, RCPAs and other key partners OCT/NOV DEC 2011 The launch of the Strategy, which was attended by many key stakeholders, including management and members of the cooperatives themselves, signaled the Strategy development s transition into its full implementation phase. Since then, many of the interventions outlined in the document are already being aggressively pursued. A prime example of this is the effort to reform and strengthen the national cooperatives auditing structure. This structure is vital to ensuring that cooperatives in JANUARY 2012 Agricultural Cooperatives Development Concept Note submitted to and fully approved by the Agricultural Transformation Council in consultation with FCA, RCPAs and the other key partners FEB/MAR APR/MAY 2012 JUNE 2012 Sector Strategy launched and Strategy dissemination efforts begin Ethiopia are performing at their optimal level of financial and operational capacity. Towards this end, the Federal Cooperative Agency and regional partners have worked with national financial institutions to develop an auditing training manual, which in 2012 was used to train over 200 auditors at the woreda level throughout the country. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and the ATA have been working together to develop strategies intended to strengthen the governance and management structure of the cooperatives auditing system. 25

15 3. Program Updates

16 SEED Investing in improved, high-quality seeds is an important contributor to raising productivity on Ethiopian smallholder farms. High-yielding seed varieties, combined with other inputs, can double or even triple a farmer s output, which would translate into increased food security on a household, community, regional, and national level. However, ensuring that farmers have the highest quality seeds takes a concerted effort; it is a product of effective research and breeding, careful maintenance of foundation seed, and large-scale multiplication of certified seed. Improved seeds also require an efficient distribution network to help get the right seeds to the right farmers when they need them most. 28 The ATA s Seed System Program is designed to help the Ministry of Agriculture, regional governments, seed producers, and other stakeholders to build a dynamic, efficient and well-regulated seed system; one that provides farmers with affordable, high-quality seeds of improved varieties for all key crops through multiple production and distribution channels while conserving Ethiopia s biodiversity. A few of the 2012 seed related interventions included: Seed Proclamation Ethiopia s current seed regulations, which were previously developed in 2000, often inhibited the abilities of formal seed sector stakeholders. With support from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ministry of Agriculture and the ATA worked with various domestic and international partners to develop an amended seed proclamation that was approved by Parliament on January 24, This new regulatory framework provides clear and transparent guidelines for the seed system, instituting new structures and protocols and clarifying enforcement standards. Seed Sector Strategy The ATA and the Ministry of Agriculture have been working with all stakeholders to develop a national strategy to transform the seed sector. In January 2012, the strategy for the formal aspect of the seed sector was completed and endorsed by the Transformation Council. Since then, the ATA has been working with the MoA and other stakeholders to develop a strategy for the informal and intermediate sub-sectors which currently account for nearly 90% of seed reaching farmers. Strengthening these areas will be critical to ensure that the improved varieties developed by the formal sub-sector effectively reach the largest number of farmers possible, by using the informal and intermediate seed sectors to maximize distribution. The strategy to strengthen both the intermediate and informal aspects of the seed sector is currently under development and is expected to be completed in early

17 30 12 Increased Inspection and Certification The Seed team has also been working with the Regional Bureaus of Agriculture and quality control laboratories in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP to ensure that all seed is inspected on time and that rejected seed is discarded. The goal is to increase coverage to 100% of commercially produced hybrid maize and wheat seed, by building the long-term capacity of regional inspection services and certification laboratories. In the first year of this effort, inspection coverage has been expanded by 47% and sample testing of carry-over seed has increased thirteen-fold. Genetic Consistency Due to insufficient maintenance breeding capacity and quality control, there is concern that many of the improved seed varieties in use in Ethiopia have lost their yield potential. As a first step toward restoring parental line genetic consistency, the ATA partnered with research institutes, seed producers, and international research organizations to assess Ethiopia s seed proclamation amended after more than YEARS the levels of genetic drift by testing the most widely used hybrid maize varieties. The tests confirmed that much of the breeder, pre-basic, and basic seeds have suffered significant genetic contamination. The ATA has worked with EIAR and the MoA to develop a two-year plan to ensure that true-to-type nucleus seeds are planted to produce high-quality breeder seeds. Meanwhile, a similar testing process has been initiated for other major crops, including wheat, barley, tef, and OPV maize. Greater Seed Supply Nearly 90% of the seed supplied by Ethiopia s formal seed sub-sector is hybrid maize and wheat. Improved seed for other priority crops, such as tef, sorghum, and chickpea, must also be produced and promoted to reduce supply shortfalls and benefit smallholder farmers. The ATA and MoA have begun working with seed producers, cooperatives, and community-based organizations to improve the procurement rate of seed from out-growers and to facilitate a more efficient engagement between seed producers and the strengthened cooperatives to market their seed. It is hoped this will increase the multiplication and availability of improved seed for hybrid as well as less profitable open and selfpollinating varieties.

18 COOPERATIVES Economies of scale and strong bargaining power are two basic and essential principals of most successful business models. On average, throughout the world, agricultural cooperatives have been shown to take advantage of these principles and enable farmers to sell their crops at higher prices. However, for a large percentage of rural Ethiopian farmers, the advantages of cooperative marketing remain largely untapped. Recognizing this, the Government of Ethiopia has identified the cooperative form of business organizations as instrumental to socioeconomic development and is supporting cooperatives to improve agricultural production and productivity. 32 Despite the perceived benefits of the cooperative model, and support from the government and development partners, Ethiopian agricultural cooperatives face a number of key constraints that have limited their ability to provide core services to their members in a sustainable and scalable way. Drawing from successful international and local best practices, the ATA Cooperatives Program is working closely with the Federal Cooperative Agency (FCA) to strengthen the agricultural cooperative sector. Just some of the cooperatives work underway includes: Sector Strategy Development Over the past year, the ATA Cooperatives Program facilitated the creation of a comprehensive Agricultural Cooperatives Sector Development Strategy, in conjunction with key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Agriculture and the FCA. The Sector Strategy, which includes implementation and monitoring/evaluation frameworks, provides a clear roadmap of interventions in seven broad areas. The Strategy was officially launched on June 26th, 2012 and implementation has now begun. This is coordinated at a senior level through quarterly meetings of the National and Regional Agricultural Cooperatives Strategy Steering Committees, and on a daily basis by national and regional Secretariats based at the FCA and Regional Cooperatives Promotion Agencies, with support from the ATA s Cooperatives program. Creating a Center of Excellence The national Cooperatives Strategy also calls for the development of a fully dedicated Cooperative College, intended to serve as a Center of Excellence in Ethiopia. As such, UNDP is supporting the UK Cooperative College to develop a detailed organizational audit focusing on the governance, management, operations, structure, capacity, and curriculum of Ardiata College. A comprehensive business plan is now being developed to help complete the College s upgrade, which will commence in Capacity Building to Enhance Performance In order to strengthen the performance of agricultural cooperatives, an aggressive set of capacity building efforts have begun throughout the country, initially prioritizing 46 high-potential pioneer cooperative unions. These pioneer unions are actively engaged in six priority crops, including sesame in Tigray and Amhara, coffee in Oromia and SNNP, as well as chickpea, barley, tef, and maize in all four of the largest regions. In addition to developing the human capacity at these cooperatives, plans are underway to strengthen the physical infrastructure. Advanced Certification System such as Vietnam and Malawi, the ATA, with the support of UNDP and in partnership with the UK Cooperative College, is helping to develop an advanced certification system to provide cooperatives with clear and measurable benchmarks of their effectiveness. The system will serve as a signal to farmers, financers, buyers, and others, about the quality of an individual cooperative and will also serve as an incentive for cooperatives to better support farmers. The planned certification will be accompanied by a rebranding process to further signal the transformation of the cooperatives sector. In conjunction with the UK Cooperative College, a detailed analysis has been completed, recommending criteria, structure, and necessary policy changes to implement the certification system. 33

19 SOIL HEALTH & FERTILITY In addition to widespread soil degradation due largely to deforestation, unimproved soil tillage technologies, and a lack of land management strategies appropriate to specific soils, landscape and climate low soil fertility and crop nutrient imbalances are two of the primary limitations to increased agricultural production in Ethiopia. The ATA s Soil Health & Fertility Program is working with key stakeholders to develop a strategy aimed at increasing soil quality, fertility, and productivity by facilitating the creation of a comprehensive soil health and fertility improvement and maintenance system. This system will help rehabilitate currently degraded soils, while continuing to sustain highquality and fertile soils throughout subsequent growing seasons. 34 To make this possible, the ATA has worked with its partners to identify a set of soil fertility management interventions, such as new fertilizer formulations and new agronomic management practices that leverage conservation agriculture approaches. These interventions will be tested and implemented in the near-term, all of which should have a positive and immediate impact on the soil Ethiopian farmers are using; an impact which will be seen in both the quality and quantity of farmers crop outputs, but also in the overall agroecological environment. Here are just a few of the projects the Soil Program has been working on: Expanded Fertilizer Trials Currently, only two types of fertilizer, DAP (diammonium phosphate) and urea, are recommended and utilized at scale throughout Ethiopia. The ATA Soil team is working with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research as well as other partners to facilitate an evaluation of an expanded range of additional options, including ammonium sulphate, urea supergranules, YaraMila, ammonium sulfate nitrate, potassium chloride, and potassium sulfate. These fertilizers are being tested in comparison to the conventional DAP and urea application at approximately 260 Farmer Training Centers in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray, in order to develop targeted fertilizer recommendations for various geographies and agroecologies. Local Fertilizer Blending Facilities Given that Ethiopia has only applied a limited set of nutrients to its soils, it is anticipated that the EthioSIS initiative and the expanded fertilizer trials will indicate that a larger set of macro and micro nutrients are required in different soil types. Fertilizers that include these additional nutrients could be sourced from outside the country, however a preferable alternative may be to establish local fertilizer blending facilities. These facilities would be able to blend fertilizers containing an expanded range of nutrients and provide increased access to additional formulas that are only available in raw form in the country. The ATA is participating in the strategy development process, in conjunction with Steering and Technical Committees comprised of representatives from various Ministries and other stakeholders, to establish local fertilizer blending facilities privately owned and operated by agricultural cooperatives. Soil Enhancement Unfortunately, a considerable portion of Ethiopia s soils are unresponsive to fertilizer input. A main reason for this is that most agricultural land has been mined of nutrients and therefore has very little soil organic matter (SOM) left in the soil. Developing a national implementation strategy for SOM enhancement will complement the efforts to use improved seeds/germplasm and appropriate inorganic fertilizers, and thus contribute to an integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) strategy for unresponsive soils. The ATA s Soil team is collaborating with the MoA and other partners, including EIAR and CIAT, to help determine SOM strategies and technologies suitable for Ethiopia s smallholder farmers. 35

20 INPUT & OUTPUT MARKETS One of the many challenges the Ethiopian smallholder farmer faces is gaining access to some of the most basic and vital inputs necessary to successfully grow their crops and run their businesses. High-quality seeds and fertilizer, as well as credit and financial services, are needed to improve and expand the scope of a farmer s operation. On the other end, farmers need access to various output markets, such as sales and distribution channels which allow them to sell their harvests at a maximum return. 36 By partnering with a wide range of stakeholders, including relevant public sector organizations, farmers associations, local and international private sector, and the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, the ATA s Input & Output Markets Program is working to provide farmers with access to quality inputs, and striving to create an efficient and competitive agricultural output marketing system that guarantees farmers access to sustainable markets, while enabling them to capture an increased share of the value of production. A few of the projects the team has been working on so far are: Contract Farming Forward delivery contracts are one of the most effective ways to link farmers directly to end-markets. These contracts enable smallholders to generate pre-finance for inputs, produce a better quality product, and capture a bigger share of product value. This past year, the Input & Output Markets Program helped facilitate an initial contract between Mama Fresh Injera, a major local producer/exporter, and the Erer Cooperative Union. This contract calls for the delivery of 720 metric tons of tef from the 2012 planting season, and provides training for farmers in agronomic practices and principles. Similar types of contracts have also been facilitated by other ATA teams. Aggregation of the learnings from these experiences will enable the ATA to scale-up these practices next year. Fertilizer Supply Chain Fertilizer adoption and use is affected by the profitability of using the fertilizer and the availability of credit. The profitability is a function of the price of fertilizer, crop responses, and output prices. As a first step in improving fertilizer supply chain efficiency, the Input & Output team partnered with IFPRI to study bottlenecks in procurement, demand estimation, adoption/affordability, and last-mile distribution. Based on the findings from this study, the team will collaborate with the MoA and other partners to develop and implement an improved fertilizer demand estimation methodology and revamp the input credit delivery system. Cooperative Storage Creating adequate storage is a primary strategy for addressing post-harvest losses, allowing farmers to aggregate their produce in order to market collectively and gain access to operating finances, using their stored grain as collateral. Increased investment in storage warehouses is needed to enhance the role of agricultural cooperatives in output marketing. However, there is virtually no information on the current state of cooperatives warehouses to inform related policy and investment decisions in the country. To remedy this, the Input & Output Markets team is working with various partners, including IFPRI, WFP, and others, to better understand and address Ethiopia s current storage capacity. Accessing Finance Ethiopian cooperatives often find it difficult to access working capital finance, for purchasing needed inputs, like fertilizer, or for marketing their outputs. This is because most coops don t have assets that can be used as collateral to gain credit. In addition to preventing them from acquiring high-quality supplies, they also face a pressing need for cash at harvest time, frequently forcing farmers to sell their produce to private traders at lower prices. The Input & Output Markets team is researching case studies and lessons from other countries, such as Kenya, India, and Vietnam, to develop recommendations that can improve financial services to smallholder farmers. 37

21 38 Specifically, solutions are being sought for the bottlenecks farmers face in accessing credit for inputs, as well as for cooperatives trying to access financial services for output marketing. Strategic Grain Reserve Because of the seasonality of agricultural production in contrast to the more evenly distributed demand for commodities throughout the year grain needs to be stored to maintain a constant supply, and to preserve quality. Additionally, the history of droughts and other unexpected circumstances that create imbalances between supply and demand necessitates the need for a robust strategic grain reserve system. To address this, Ethiopia is planning for a revamped strategic grain reserve, to provide supply during food emergencies, and to facilitate price stabilization. As an initial step, the ATA commissioned a study, through the support of UNDP, to develop an investment and operational plan, assess the existing capacity of the Emergency Food Security Reserve Administration and the Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprises, and map out existing storage facilities.

22 RESEARCH & EXTENSION Ethiopia s agricultural extension system is one of the largest in the world on a per capita basis, with over 60,000 Development Agents (DAs) trained and working in up to 18,000 Farmer Training Centers (FTCs) throughout the country s various regions. The growth in the extension system, which began with a concerted focus from the Ministry of Agriculture in 2002, has generated significant potential to reach smallholder farmers and pastoralists with the knowledge and technologies to sustainably improve the productivity of their activities. At the same time, the effective functioning of the country s research system, including a network of regional and federal research institutes and higher learning institutions, is critical to ensure that the extension system has access to the most relevant technologies for farmers in different parts of the country. 40 Some of the Research & Extension interventions underway include: National Agricultural Research Council The National Agricultural Research System (NARS) includes the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, the Regional Agricultural Research Institutes, and higher learning institutions. However, there is currently no single body to effectively manage the system at a national level, addressing coordination, overlap, and integration issues. Various examples, from India and other countries, show the benefits of establishing a National Agricultural Research Council (NARC), especially to facilitate close collaboration and a well-prioritized and coordinated agenda. As the major NARS actors have proposed the creation of a similar research council in Ethiopia, the ATA is facilitating the establishment of a NARC, lending broad support to associated stakeholders, and consulting on proposed structure and operating systems for the council. 41 The ATA s Research & Extension Program aims to enhance the development and adoption of productivity-increasing technologies, which are market-oriented, agroecologically appropriate, and financially sustainable. The team is also aiming to introduce services that better align the focus of the research and extension systems to the needs of smallholder farmers and cooperatives, related to market opportunities. Beginning in 2009, the MoA led an important study to examine bottlenecks in the agricultural extension system. Based on this and other studies, as well as a wide range of consultations with key partners, the ATA is working towards helping the Ministry and other invested parties to increase extension capacity and incentivize DAs, while simultaneously working to strengthen the country s vital research system.

23 42 Biotechnology Development Despite some ongoing debates on specific issues and applications, biotechnology, both transgenic and non-transgenic, has been shown to hold enormous potential to increase agricultural productivity, nutrition, and environmental health. Furthermore, it has been shown in other countries that biotechnology related issues can be advanced while also protecting biodiversity. In partnership with other stakeholders, the ATA s Research & Extension team has developed a Concept Note to outline a comprehensive approach to safely expand the use of biotechnology in Ethiopia. Along with other dialogue currently underway, it is hoped this will lead to helping Ethiopia s smallholder farmers benefit from some of the biotechnology applications, while also protecting the country s biodiversity. Extension Centers of Excellence Farmer Training Centers play a hugely important role acting as a hub for information exchange, training, and demonstrations. However, as the diagnostic study of the extension system showed, many FTCs do not have the capacity necessary to properly execute basic responsibilities. What s more, information on the number and status of established FTCs in the country is poor, all of which is constraining the development of targeted strategies to improve the current situation. With the ultimate goal of transforming all FTCs into Centers of Excellence for smallholder farmers, the Research & Extension team is working with stakeholders at all levels to develop a database on FTC distribution and functionality. This is the first step toward improving effectiveness and sustainability throughout the national network of FTCs and strengthening the overall extension system.

24 TEF diets, but also an integral part of the national culture. Unfortunately, without the benefit of worldwide focus, tef remains what is often called an orphan crop ; one that has received significantly less international research on breeding, agronomy, mechanization, and processing. As a result, Ethiopian farmers employ very few modern farming technologies or techniques to their tef crops, leading to low yields, increased post-harvest losses, and a constraint to national tef stocks that has driven prices beyond the reach of many Ethiopian households. 44 Compounding the opportunity, tef is a highly nutritious, gluten-free grain with an enormous reserve of untapped commercial potential. To help capitalize on this, the ATA s Tef Value Chain Program aims to support the doubling of tef productivity within the Ethiopian Government s current GTP period. In addition, the ATA is working to ensure that farmers have sufficient access to markets, in order to capture the highest value from their production and increase their incomes, while simultaneously reducing the price to consumers. Some of the impressive progress made so far includes: Farmer Training on New Agronomic Practices Working with the national extension system at both the national and regional levels, the ATA Tef Program has started supporting hands-on productivity enhancement demonstrations on smallholder farms throughout the country s high tef producing woredas. Techniques being explored include changes in planting methods (such as planting in rows rather than broadcasting), reducing planting density (from kilograms to 3-5 kilograms per hectare), and even transplanting from seedlings. An initial effort with 1,430 farmers and 90 Farmer Training Centers during the 2011 Meher season achieved a ~50-80% yield improvement compared to national averages. Based on these results, the Transformation Council and the Extension Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture encouraged the Bureaus of Agriculture (BoAs) to significantly scale-up the introduction of these planting techniques. The ATA has been supporting these efforts, reaching nearly 200,000 model and early adopting farmers during the 2012 Meher season. This will serve as a platform to reach over one million farmers in 2013 and up to 3.5 million in the coming years, by leveraging technologies such as Farm Radio. New Combinations of Appropriate Technologies Cutting-edge tef research has demonstrated that combining agroecologically appropriate improved seeds and fertilizers with new agronomic practices has the potential to double traditional tef yields. In addition, other technologies, such as mechanized row planters and combining mechanical broadcasters with Broad-bed Makers, are being tested as a way to scale-up row planting. The ATA is supporting the BoAs to refine these technologies in all four major tef producing regions by engaging a wider range of model farmers and working with Farmer Training Centers. Expansion of Threshers A shortage of post-harvest processing technologies currently results in tef yield reductions of 25-30%. To combat this, the Tef team has identified mechanical threshers as a high-impact technology that can reduce these post-harvest losses and improve quality. As a first step, the team is working with thresher manufacturers and other stakeholders to identify the best design specifications for multi-crop usage throughout Ethiopia, all in conjunction with key partners, including Sasakawa Global 2000/Ethiopia, the MoA Extension Directorate, and the Regional BoAs. 45

25 WHEAT, MAIZE & BARLEY Tef, wheat, and maize represent the three most important cereal crops in Ethiopia, at least in terms of the number of smallholder farmers engaged in production, the volume of land they cultivate, and the sheer amount of grain they produce. Barley, meanwhile, is a high-opportunity crop, with great room for profitable expansion, particularly when connected with the country s rapidly expanding commercial brewing and value-added industries. Although Ethiopia has seen relatively steady improvement in wheat and maize production in recent years, both in the amount of arable land cultivated and the per hectare yields, the growth has been a fraction of what it could be with more focused efforts in place. Just a few of the Program s 2012 projects have included: 46 The objective of the ATA s Wheat, Maize & Barley Program is to support significant and sustainable increases in the productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers producing these crops. This will be done through the widespread adoption of several key interventions, including access to high-quality seeds and fertilizers, training in new and better agronomic practices, and more efficient post-harvest processing and handling. The Program further aims to support the growth of efficient, sizeable, and sustainable markets to help farmers translate increased productivity into additional income. If the Program s target of doubling production is achieved, the additional stocks would need to flow through efficient channels, to both local and regional markets, in order to ensure that competitive prices are made available to smallholder farmers. Purchase for Progress Over half of all Ethiopian farmers grow maize, mostly for subsistence, with 75% of all maize output consumed by farming households. To increase the productivity of these smallholder farmers and connect them with a secure commercial market, the Wheat, Maize & Barley team is working with Technoserve and USAID s AMDe project to test a model that facilitates a forward delivery contract for 30,000 MT of maize. Through the agreement, 16 unions in three regions will be supplying maize to the World Food Programme s Purchase for Progress initiative. This model provides an integrated bundle of services to smallholders, including access to key inputs, such as seeds, fertilizer and finance, plus agronomic support, post-harvest handling and storage services, and efficient aggregation and commercialization services through farmers associations. 47 Brewing Barley Demand for malt barley in Ethiopia is expected to grow by 20% annually in the coming years, due to Ethiopia s population and economic growth, as well as demographic

26 48 patterns. As a result, major foreign and local investors, including Diageo, Heineken, BGI, and Dashen, have made significant recent investments in the sector. Supplying this growing demand is a great area of potential for Ethiopia s smallholders. To test this model, a contract farming trial has been initiated between multinational Diageo, owners of Ethiopia s Meta Brewery, and smallholder farmers: members of the Robi Berga and Melka Awash Cooperative Unions in the Sebeta region. With support from Farm Africa, this initial first-year contract pre-finances inputs and extension support to farmers, with the aim of providing up to 1,000 MT of malting barley in early The ultimate goal is to expand such contracts to satisfy the increasing barley demand of all local breweries in the coming years. consumption is now outstripping production in some areas of the country. As a result, Ethiopia has been importing wheat from other countries for over a decade. In an effort to reverse this trend, the ATA is working with the Regional Agriculture Bureaus and the MoA to develop a wheat productivity increase strategy that intends to reach at least 1 million farmers in three years with a comprehensive technology package that will enable them to increase productivity by at least 50%. By providing wheat farmers with access to improved seed, appropriate fertilizer combinations, financial services through mobile payment platforms, mechanization, and links to markets (such as EGTE and millers) the strategy aims to replace all current wheat imports with local Ethiopian production. Import Substitution Wheat is Ethiopia s third largest crop in terms of production volume. However, low average yields combined with high demand means that

27 PULSES & OILSEEDS Among the wide variety of oilseeds and pulses grown in Ethiopia, chickpea is one important opportunity on which there has been relatively little focus; this despite Ethiopia currently being the largest producer in Africa. What s more, chickpea is grown by over one million rural households and contributes significantly to the country s agriculture and economy. 50 Known as a pro-poor crop, one of the things that makes chickpea so special is its immense agronomic merits, including a tolerance to low moisture stress and an ability to provide reasonable yield with minimum inputs. The chickpea s ability to grow on residual moisture also gives farmers the opportunity to use their land more sustainably, by engaging in double cropping, where chickpea is sown at the end of the rainy season following harvest of the main crop. With its deep tap-root system and leaf morphology, chickpea is also drought tolerant. Furthermore, being a legume plant, it fixes an inert form of nitrogen from the atmosphere and converts it into usable nutrients in the soil. Chickpea also has high commercial demand, both locally and internationally, and Ethiopia is uniquely positioned to tap the international markets. Ethiopia s geographic position offers a competitive advantage for exports thanks to its relative proximity to major chickpea importing countries. Interestingly, although the four largest importers are currently India, Pakistan, Algeria, and United Arab Emirates, the top four chickpea exporters are Australia, Mexico, Turkey, and Canada, creating a clear opportunity for increased Ethiopian trade. Some of the interventions underway so far include: Better Seeds Despite the significant productivity and market advantages offered by improved chickpea varieties, adoption remains very low, both nationally and in key intervention areas. In fact, in the cropping season, only 0.62% of chickpea fields in Ethiopia were farmed using improved chickpea seeds, with access to both seed supply and adequate financing identified as primary bottlenecks. In partnership with USAID s AMDe project, the ATA is working to supply improved seed varieties to farmers in high-impact intervention areas. As an initial effort, in 2012, 425 quintals of seed were produced and secured from the Ethiopian Seed Enterprise for the Tsehay Cooperative Union and delivered through the Amhara Bureau of Agriculture. Input financing is also being facilitated through the AMDe project, to establish a revolving fund for seed with three target unions. Chickpea Training Surveys and field visits have indicated that Ethiopian chickpea farmers have limited knowledge of the best agronomic practices for this unique crop. For example, given that chickpea is typically farmed on residual moisture, it is highly sensitive to moisture stress. Furthermore, common agronomic practices do not effectively leverage the crop s potential benefits in nitrogen fixation, and current extension services are not giving due attention to chickpea relative to cereal crops. The Pulses & Oilseeds team is working to expand extension services with a specific focus on chickpea farmers in Becho, Dembia and Gondor, including the development of a training manual detailing improved varieties, agronomy, crop protection, marketing, and value addition. Accessing Market Opportunities Ethiopia s chickpea focused cooperative unions currently lack the technical, organizational, and financial capacity to effectively access domestic and international export market opportunities. To begin remedying this, the Pulses & Oilseeds team is working in close collaboration with the ATA s Cooperatives Program, in partnership with USAID s AMDe project and Agriterra, to support areas. By investing in necessary infrastructure for output aggregation, building commercial and marketing functions, facilitating access to finance, and identifying domestic and international export market opportunities, the effort aims to strengthen their overall capacity, with an aim toward increasing chickpea production and export on an annual basis. 51

28 HOUSEHOLD IRRIGATION Despite the fact that Ethiopia is endowed with huge water resources, water is often a key constraint to smallholder productivity. The livelihoods of the large majority of small-scale farming families remain dependent on rain-fed agriculture; and their ability to diversify into irrigated agriculture is constrained by a lack of appropriate, affordable water control technology options. Household irrigation is believed to offer transformative potential for the Ethiopian agriculture sector. Estimates are that over the next five years this technology could enable more than 650,000 farming households to become less reliant on rain-fed agriculture, thus improving their resilience and increasing family income and food security while adding $600 million USD and nearly 50,000 additional jobs to the economy. 52 However, in the face of household irrigation s great promise, current household irrigation technology (HIT) distribution models in Ethiopia are unable to capture the full potential of the technology. In addition, improvement of pumps procurement and maintenance, irrigation training, access to complementary inputs (such as seed, fertilizer, and plant protection), as well as linkage to commercial output markets are required to fully realize Ethiopia s HIT potential. The objective of the ATA s Household Irrigation Program is to support the national Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) in achieving its small-scale irrigation targets through the promotion of household level irrigation activities. Simultaneously, the team aims to scale the learnings from the AGP woredas across the country. Some of our early work in household irrigation includes: Groundwater Mapping A better understanding of Ethiopia s shallow groundwater is critical to ensuring an environmentally sustainable approach toward the access of water resources. However, the spatial distribution, quality, and quantity of groundwater resources in Ethiopia are not well understood, as the current groundwater maps available are not at a scale or precision level needed to inform household irrigation activities and decisions. Following a request from the Transformation Council, the ATA is working with the Ministry of Water & Energy and other partners to facilitate the creation of nationwide shallow groundwater maps that will be actionable at a household level. In consultation with the Geological Survey and other international experts and institutions, different technology packages are being assessed, including remote sensing datasets, ground testing, and modelling, all factoring in Ethiopia s unique geological structures and topography to ensure high precision results. Pump Standards The absence of national water pump standards, combined with variable procurement and distribution channels, creates challenges in the supply-chain affecting smallholder farmers. Pump quality is highly variable, often lacking instructions, and with a limited market for spare parts. As a result, farmers face difficulty when making investment choices. The HHI program has worked with the Ethiopian Standards Agency and other stakeholders to establish national standards for engine driven and manual pumps, and is working on a process to improve the pump supply-chain, and simplify the importation of pumps. Service Provision Current irrigation approaches practiced at the household level in Ethiopia are unable to capture the full benefits of irrigation. This is primarily due to the small scale of most approaches, and the fact that they do not holistically account for the economics of specific crop value chains. To support irrigation households in addressing this issue, the HHI team is working with key stakeholders to develop a sustainable irrigation service provision model that will be scalable to AGP woredas, and eventually throughout all areas where irrigation is feasible. The overall objective is to build the capacity of the entire household irrigation system, from farmers to pump manufacturers to the extension system and market outlets, in order to ensure that the maximum value is extracted for all stakeholders, and for smallholder farmers in particular. 53

29 TECHNOLOGY ACCESS & ADOPTION Throughout the world, for many decades, smallholder and commercial farmers have been steadily increasing their production through the adoption of productivity enhancing modern agricultural techniques and technologies. Most recently, technological advancements have soared exponentially, providing opportunities for farmers to maximize profits and efficiencies. In Ethiopia, however, the access to and adoption of these new practices and technologies have been greatly limited by economic, logistical, and systemic obstacles. In some cases the challenge is simply identifying the appropriate technologies and getting them to the farmers. In other instances, the obstacle is overcoming centuries-old ideas about farming, popularizing new agronomic techniques, and scaling-up training through the regional extension system. 54 The Technology Access & Adoption Program is mandated to scan, identify, test, and source new technologies that can have transformational impact on the Ethiopian agriculture sector. The team is also working in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, regional agriculture bureaus, and non-governmental organizations to adopt and scale-up the promotion of these new technologies. A few of the projects we ve already initiated include: Quality Protein Maize Known as QPMs, this highly nutritious, protein-rich set of maize varieties contain an extra amount of two amino acids that are vital for human nutrition. Consumption of QPM helps to prevent physical and mental retardation caused by nutritional deficiencies in young children and women. The ATA is working to popularize this variety with farmers, starting with 105 demonstration plots at FTCs in three Regions: Oromia, Amhara, and SNNP. DAs and zonal, woreda, and regional experts have been trained in the benefits of increasing QPM adoption and its agronomic practices. Early Warning System Wheat, which is currently grown by 4.7 million farming households in Ethiopia, suffers from three different types of rust diseases. These diseases can be particularly destructive, sometimes leading to the loss of up to 100% of the crop. To identify and mitigate future epidemics, the Technology team is working with federal and regional research institutes, the Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, and the MoA s Animal and Plant Health Regulatory Department to develop an early warning system (EWS). A selection of Farmer Training Centers will serve as wheat rust trap nurseries, established across those wheat growing areas known to be hot spots for epidemics, eventually allowing for early forecasting and preventative measures. Urea Supergranules Fertilizers generally represent the greatest input cost for farmers. Therefore, improvements in the efficiency of fertilizers can greatly improve profitability ratios, supporting smallholder farmer incomes. Urea supergranules (USG) is one potential type of fertilizer that provides the same nutrient (nitrogen) as standard urea, but in an enhanced fashion. This pelleted urea fertilizer releases nitrogen gradually, making it available to the crop during most of the growing cycle. This technology has been used in multiple Asian countries, leading to savings of up to 30-40% of farmers fertilizer costs. To help introduce USG to Ethiopia s farmers, the Technology team is working to organize demonstration plots at FTCs, showing the benefits and efficiency of USG application on both maize and wheat. Mechanization Most planting, harvesting, and threshing in Ethiopia is still performed manually, by hand or with oxen. However mechanized row planters, harvesters, and threshers can significantly reduce labor output, while at the same time increasing farmers yields and the quality of their produce. To help introduce the benefits of these mechanized technologies to Ethiopian farmers, the ATA has begun evaluating and sourcing mechanical row planters and multi-crop threshers from domestic and international suppliers. The team is also developing a logistical deployment plan to make the machines available to famers, including training and incubating machine operators as new agricultural entrepreneurs. 55

30 PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS Connecting Ethiopia s smallholder farmers with commercial supply chains is not just a strategy for agricultural development, it s a route to economic growth as well. That s why the ATA has been engaging with domestic and multinational corporations to facilitate public/private partnerships (PPPs) that systematically link Ethiopia s smallholders to domestic and international output markets. Instead of simply selling their produce in the local marketplace immediately after harvest, farmers could combine their outputs and market them in aggregated form to commercial buyers at higher prices. In addition to the immediate increase in smallholder incomes, these partnerships also have the potential to spur growth throughout the entire sector, drawing new investments in production capacity, improved crop quality, and innovative agronomic and mechanization technologies. Investments in storage, transportation, and related industries further maximize the benefits of strategic commercial partnerships. 56 Thanks to Ethiopia s network of farming cooperatives and unions, smallholders have a variety of opportunities to pool resources, knowledge, and bargaining power. The Public Private Partnerships team is actively working to facilitate forward delivery contracts between these local unions and major domestic and international companies and organizations. At the same time, to bolster and encourage economic growth, the PPP Program is engaging in investor outreach, gathering pertinent information on applicable laws and regulations, and spearheading evidence-based policy support to create a strong enabling environment for investment. Some of the PPP efforts underway include: Pursuing Partnerships Agricultural transformation in countries such as Vietnam and India has been accelerated by leveraging partnerships with international multinationals and encouraging investments. Given its recent economic progress, Ethiopia is in a unique position to create similar agreements that can catalyze transformation in the country, on terms that are consistent with Ethiopia s national strategy. Furthermore, as part of the G8 s New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security initiative, a number of international and local private sector partners signaled their intent to make additional investments in Ethiopia through discussions with many of these signatories about aligning core competencies in order to convert their intentions into formalized Memorandums of Understandings and actual, tangible investments. Investment Opportunities To forge these links between Ethiopia s smallholder farmers and the local and global supply chains and industries, the ATA has been working with domestic and multinational companies to facilitate public/private partnerships. As part of this effort, the PPP team has taken the lead in engaging with global initiatives, such as the WEF/AU/NEPAD Grow Africa initiative, which seeks to catalyze and accelerate private sector investment by supporting countries in developing investment blueprints, building a pipeline of investments, and engaging regional and global investors. From these forums working with consultants funded by USAID the ATA has finalized detailed business case studies, complete with financial forecasts, for three investment opportunities in the barley, chickpea, and sesame value chains. Management Unit Building on the early promise of the PPP Program, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Transformation Council requested that the ATA set up a high-performing delivery unit to support investments in the agriculture sector. The PPP Management Unit serves as a one-stop-shop for interested investors, providing problem solving support as well as policy advocacy, information collation, and ongoing investor outreach. With support from USAID and CIDA, the Unit has been established and is already supporting investors involved in the G8 New Alliance and Grow Africa initiatives. This Unit has also begun engaging with the Ethiopian Investment Authority and investment related Directorates in the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Trade to ensure alignment on these efforts. 57

31 CLIMATE ADAPTATION & ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY The Ethiopian economy is based on rain-fed agriculture. This makes Ethiopian farmers extremely vulnerable to the impact of climate hazards, particularly droughts and floods. Climate change and environmental degredation are having a significant impact, causing eroding soils, decreasing forests, and degrading water supplies. Ethiopia is more than 50% highland, and 60% of the people live in the mountains where the soil is more susceptible to erosion and degradation. This erosion leads to annual loses of 1.9 billion tons of soil. 58 Additionally, Ethiopia s forest cover has decreased from 40% in the early 1900s to just 4% at the end of the 20th century. All this erosion and deforestation have led to land degradation, low soil fertility, and drying up of springs and streams. What s more, extensive cultivation has led to the disappearance of traditional strategies that maintain environmental sustainability, such as fallowing, crop rotation, and zoning of communal land for grazing. The ATA s Climate & Environment Initiative is working closely with various partners with financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation to avert these existing constraints, through climate information, risk management, and resource sustainability. A few of the related interventions to date include: Meteorological Stations The current density of meteorological stations in Ethiopia is 75% below the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recommendations. Most of the stations are also located in urban areas or close to main roads. Increasing the use of meteorological information for agricultural decision-making would require additional observation stations in rural areas, where the majority of farmers live. As a first step, the Climate Program is supporting the installation of plastic rain gauges, to empower FTCs for rainfall monitoring in their respective areas and enable farmers to undertake evidence based agronomic decisions. This effort will be scaled-up to many of the FTCs in the woredas prioritized by the ATA, MoA, and regional governments, in the Tef, Wheat, and Maize value chain programs. Local Forecasts Weather and climate forecasts are released by the National Meteorological Agency (NMA) daily, every 10 days, and monthly, as well as before each of the three climatic seasons. However, these forecasts are provided only at national and regional levels, excluding more detailed zonal/woreda level forecasts. While high-level forecasts are useful for national planning and early warning systems, they are not helpful in influencing farm-level decisions. The availability of such information at a more granular level will support farmers in making agronomic decisions, filling a substantial gap. The ATA s Climate team is working with the NMA to guide the provision of future station-level seasonal forecasts, starting with four high-potential AGP woredas. 59

32 Conservation Agriculture Minimum tillage, crop covers, intercropping, fertilizer tree planting, and crop rotation are the main pillars of conservation agriculture. These techniques will enhance production and productivity while taking into account environment-related considerations. Working in conjunction with other ATA programs, the Climate & Environment team is focusing on capacity building of zonal and woreda staff and extension agents, to introduce these conservation agriculture techniques throughout Ethiopia. 60 Extension Training An inability to understand and communicate the benefits of climate information is one of the key bottlenecks to integrating forecasts into agronomic activities. Most Development Agents are not yet able to interpret probabilistic climate forecasts into actionable recommendations for farmers. Training DAs on climate information communication addresses climate related cropping issues and improves farmers decision making. The Climate team has already supported training of zonal and woreda staff in Oromia and will be expanding this effort throughout the high-potential AGP woredas.

33 GENDER MAINSTREAMING It only takes one visit to an Ethiopian farming community to see that women play an enormous role in the country s rural agricultural economy. However, a majority of the work done by women tends to be economically invisible. As a consequence, their important role is not translated into an equality of opportunities, especially when it comes to gaining access to productive resources, markets, and services. Some of the greater challenges female farmers face in comparison to their male counterparts include reduced availability to credit for inputs, lack of proper training and extension services, and reduced access to vital output markets in which to sell their goods. 62 Addressing gender inequalities is one of the ATA s main crosscutting initiatives, with implications for all of our programs as well as our organizational development processes. The Gender Mainstreaming team, with financial support provided by the Nike Foundation, has developed a strategy to promote gender equality throughout the agriculture sector, and to ensure that all of the ATA s work contributes to these goals. Some of the key objectives of this strategy include increasing the participation of women and girls in the ATA s prioritized program areas, creating more opportunities for women and girls to have equal access to, and control over, vital resources, balancing the workload rural women and girls invest in agricultural activities, and addressing challenges to existing attitudes and practices that perpetuate gender inequalities in the agriculture sector. Some of the work being pursued in this area includes: Training Inside and Out Often one of the biggest obstacles to gender equality is simply a lack of understanding and experience. To overcome this, the Gender Mainstreaming team provides technical support and training workshops across all of the ATA programs. This helps to build gender initiatives into the ATA s interventions, and to increase our staff s commitment to always address gender inequalities in their respective areas. of Agriculture s Women s Affairs Directorate, to help build gender equality awareness and capacity throughout the regional agriculture bureaus. Adding Entrepreneurs Above and beyond improving productivity in the fields, the ATA is striving to identify opportunities that will help female farmers extend their business acumen to other commercial enterprises in the agriculture sector. Working with Ethiopia s Agricultural Growth Program (AGP), a new Women Entrepreneurs in Agriculture project is being developed. The project aims to help women engage in high-income, dynamic enterprises with the potential to promote agricultural growth. Women Leading Women Drawing on successful examples from around the world, the ATA s Gender team is working to identify and support field level activities that create economic empowerment for all women in agriculture. Partnering with Sasakawa pilot is being initiated in Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, and SNNPR. The project is designed to create new opportunities for women farmers and cooperative members, empowering them to improve their livelihoods by increasing their agricultural production, marketing, and value addition efforts. 63

34 MONITORING, LEARNING & EVALUATION As a results oriented and performance driven organization, measuring results, and learning from them, are critical to helping the ATA achieve its goal of catalyzing the transformation of Ethiopia s agriculture sector. The Agency s results measurement and learning agenda is anchored in a system that generates objective evidence of performance. In the short term, this performance measurement will gauge implementation of program activities, borrowing from best practice guidelines developed by the private sector. Accordingly, clear targets and efficient feedback mechanisms have been developed for each workflow process, to facilitate timely access to performance information and implementation of system is in the process of being designed for Ethiopia s entire agriculture system. 64 Tracking and measuring progress towards and achievement of the agriculture sector s growth and transformation requires a rigorous framework, adequate data, and strong analytical capacity. Working with the Ministry of Agriculture, the International Food Policy Research Institute, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, and the Central Statistical Agency, among others, the ATA is developing an innovative and sustainable impact evaluation strategy that will inform all of the agriculture sector s planning and policy decisions. A few of the MLE efforts for 2012 included: Setting a Baseline In order to monitor, track changes, and evaluate the impact of the interventions led by the ATA and its many partners, baseline information on the existing conditions of Ethiopia s smallholder farmers is essential. To assess and set these vital standards, IFPRI, the International Food Policy Research Institute, has been commissioned to undertake a primary household-level baseline study. This study will leverage current efforts by the AGP and other partners, to serve as a gauge for growth and improvement throughout the sector. Assessing Our Work To measure the success and impact of each ATA initiative, ensuring their effectiveness and allowing us to learn from developed an integrated results framework, identifying standard indicators at the organizational and program levels. The results framework is part of a detailed monitoring plan and M&E guide to help our teams track and report on all of their progress, while steering future efforts toward the most productive paths. Sector-wide Strengthening team is also helping to strengthen the sector-wide M&E system, evaluating progress across the agriculture sector on the whole. Working with the Ministry of Agriculture s Planning and Policy Directorate, a task force has been established to plan for an integrated monitoring and evaluation platform across the agriculture sector. The aim will be to aggregate and synthesize data, in order to report on national targets, including those in the Growth and Transformation Plan and the Policy and Investment Framework, among others. 65

35 4. Way Forward

36 THE WAY FORWARD 68 This past year has been an important one for the Agricultural Transformation Agency. In addition to building a full complement of staff to drive the many program areas within its mandate, the organization has taken a portfolio approach to launch a myriad of activities across all of its program areas. This portfolio approach has allowed the ATA to learn how to most effectively work with various partners and also understand where its efforts are most impactful. In addition, working with the Ministry of Agriculture and other partners, the ATA team has successfully launched a number of important initiatives that are already having some impact on the lives of Ethiopia s smallholder farmers and are setting a platform for long-term sustainable change. The upcoming year will be an even more important year for the ATA. Firstly, the ATA team and its partner organizations will redouble their efforts in order to institutionalize and build upon the successes of the past year. This will include completing the major structural activities that have been planned, such as completion of sub-sector strategies for all core ATA programs (i.e. the Soil Health & Fertility Management Program, and the Research & Extension Program, among others) and systemic interventions, such as the digital soil mapping work in EthioSIS, to name just a few. In addition, successful efforts such as the Tef Productivity Enhancement and Wheat Import Substitution projects will be scaled up to reach millions of farmers. Based on the learnings from its portfolio approach during 2012, in the coming year the ATA expects its broad program activities to fall into two main areas: infrastructure necessary to deliver sustainable transformation to millions of smallholder farmers across the entire country ATA-supported initiatives in high-production/potential agricultural woredas within specific crop value chains that are critical to national food security The work on systemic interventions aimed at supporting farmers across the whole country is an effort that the ATA has already begun and plans to accelerate during Efforts such as supporting the amendment to the national Seed Proclamation and strengthening the cooperative auditing system have benefits to all farmers. On the other hand, the concentrated effort to integrate ATA-supported initiatives within specific geographies is a new approach. Building on the successful effort within the tef value chain work, the ATA is working with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Regional Bureaus of Agriculture to identify and focus on Agricultural Transformation Cluster woredas that are relatively homogenous from both an agroecological and crop/livestock production perspective. These woredas will serve as geographic hubs where the ATA will work with partners to integrate a set of highimpact interventions. This combination of geographically focused interventions with more long-term systemic solutions will enable the ATA to support the achievement of near-term objectives, such as the agriculture targets within the Growth and Transformation Plan, while also laying the fundamental groundwork for long-term sustainable transformation of Ethiopia s entire agriculture sector.

37 OUR PARTNERS To achieve its systemic and geographically oriented goals, the ATA works in partnership with a wide range of organizations. These partners provide significant leadership during the problem solving efforts intended to address systemic bottlenecks. Many of these institutions, such as the Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, are also implementers and managers of the interventions that are the key to transforming Ethiopia s agriculture sector. Finally, a number of development partners also provide financial support to the ATA, for both operational and program activities. We thank them for all of their contributions and continued support.

38 Photo Credits: ATA staff, Talkingstick Pictures, and Renee Manorat Graphic Design: Cactus Communications