Transforming agriculTure in eThiopia

annual reporT

2012

Innovations to help our country grow.

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a message from The ceo የዋና ሥራ አስፈፃሚው መልዕክት

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

ይህ መልዕክት የተፃፈው የኢትዮጵያ ግብርና ትራንስፎርሜሽን

ኤጀንሲ የመጀመሪያ የስራ ዓመቱን እያገባደደ ባለበት ጊዜ

በመሆኑ ያከናወናቸውን ስራዎች ለማሳወቅ እና የወደፊት

እንቅስቃሴዎቹን ለማገናዘብ ምቹ አጋጣሚ በመፈጠሩ ነው፡፡

2004 ዓ.ም የኢትዮጵያ ግብርና ትራንስፎርሜሽን ኤጀንሲ ከፍተኛ

እመርታ እና እድገት ያሳያበት ነው፡፡ በቅድሚያ ያላሰለሰ ትጋት

ያላቸው ጥቂት ሰራተኞች እና በወረቀት የሰፈረ ሃሳብ ከያዘ ጀማሪ

ድርጅትነት ተነስቶ በመላው ሃገሪቱ ለሚተገበሩ የተለያዩ ስራዎች

ድጋፍ የሚሰጥ እንዲሁም የተሟላ እንቅስቃሴ እና አሰራር ወደ

አለው የመንግስት ድርጅትነት ያደገበት ዓመት በመሆኑ ኮርተናል፡፡

ከዚህ ባሻገር በ2004 ዓ.ም ኤጀንሲው ከግብርና ሚኒስቴር ጋር

በመተባበር በመጪዎቹ ዓመታት ለኢትዮጵያ የግብርና ዘርፍ

መሰረታዊ ትራንስፎርሜሽን ለማምጣት የሚያስችሉ እና ከፍተኛ

አንድምታ ያላቸዉ ስትራቴጂያዊ የመፍትሔ አግባቦች ትግበራ

ጀምሯል፡፡

ከጅምር ጥረቶቻችን አንዱ ከኢትዮጵያ ግብርና ምርምር

ድርጅት ጋር በመተባበር ያስተዋወቅነው የአነስተኛ ማሳ ባለይዞታ

አርሶ አደሮች አዲስ የጤፍ ግብርና አሰራር ዘዴ ሲሆን ይህም

በክልሎች ውስጥ ካለው አማካኝ የጤፍ ምርት መጠን ሲነፃፀር

ከ30 እስከ 80 በመቶ የምርት ጭማሪ በማስገኘቱ በማይታመን

መልኩ ዕድለኞች ሁነናል፡፡ ከጅምሩ በታየው አበረታች ውጤት

ላይ በመመስረት አዲሱን ቴክኖሎጂ 200,000 ለሚደርሱ

farmers with this new technology, and plans are already

underway to scale this effort to over one million farmers

in 2013.

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.

አርሶ አደሮች ለማዳረስ የክልል ግብርና ቢሮዎች ከአጋሮቻቸው ጋር

በመተባበር እየሰሩ ሲሆን በሚቀጥለው ዓመት ቴክኖሎጂውን ከ 1

ሚሊዮን በላይ ለሚሆኑ አርሶ አደሮች ተደራሽ ለማድረግ እየታቀደ

ነው፡፡

ይህንን ጥረት ጨምሮ በአሁኑ ጊዜ እየተተገበሩ ያሉ እና የታቀዱ ሌሎች

ብዛት ያላቸው እንቅስቃሴዎች ላይ ለጋራ ግብ መሳካት ተሰባስበው

የበኩላቸውን ድርሻ በማበርከት ላይ ካሉ ብዙ የስራ ተባባሪዎች

ጋር የጋራ ጥረት እየተደረገ ነው፡፡ ለዚህም የግብርና ሚኒስቴር እና

የክልል ግብርና ቢሮዎች እንዲሁም ሌሎች የፌዴራል እና የክልል

ማኅበረሰባዊ ተቋማት፣ ሚኒስቴር መ/ቤቶች እንዲሁም ኤጀንሲዎች

የሰጡት አመራር እና ያሳዩት የባለቤትነት ስሜት የተሟላበት የስራ

እንቅስቃሴ እጅግ ከፍተኛ ጠቀሜታ ያለው ነው፡፡

በተጨማሪም የልማት አጋሮቻችን ማለትም ቢል ኤንድ ሚሊንዳ ጌትስ

ፋውንዴሽን፣ የዓለም ባንክ፣ የተባበሩት መንግስታት የልማት ፕሮግራም፣

ዩኤስኤድ፣ የኔዘርላንድስ ኤምባሲ፣ ካናዳ ሲዳ፣ ናይክ ፋውንዴሽንን

እና ሮክፌለር ፋውንዴሽንን ጨምሮ ስትራቴጂዉን ለመንደፍ የሚያስችሉ

የሃሳብ እገዛ እና የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ምንጭ ሆነውልናል፡፡

በተጨማሪም ኢንቨስትመንትን እና ንግድን የሚመለከቱ እንቅስቃሴዎቻችን

ውስጥ የተሳተፉ የሀገር ውስጥ እና የውጪ ሀገር የግሉ ዘርፍ የስራ

አጋሮቻችን፣ እንዲሁም ብዛት ያላችው እንደ ሲይነርጎስ ኢንስቲቲዩት

እና የኢትዮጵያ አካዳሚ ሳይንስ፣ የሀገር ውስጥ እና ዓለም አቀፍ

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 BombaChief Executive Officer Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency

መገናኛ ብዙሃን እንዲሁም የኢትዮጵያ የሲቪል ማሕበረሰብ ዓባላት

በሙሉ ላደረጉት አስተዋፅኦ ከፍ ያለ ምስጋና ልናቀርብ እንወዳለን፡፡

በመጨረሻም እጅግ ከባዱን ስራ እየሰሩ ላሉት አካላት ከፍተኛ ምስጋና

ይገባል ብለን እናምናለን፡፡ እነዚህም በመላው አገሪቱ በአርሶ አደር

ማሰልጠኛ ማዕከላት ውስጥ እውቀት እያስጨበጡ እና ድጋፍ እየሰጡ

የሚገኙ በአስር ሺዎች የሚቆጠሩ የልማት ወኪሎች፣ ከአስር ሺህ

በላይ የሚሆኑ መሠረታዊ የግብርና ኅብረት ስራ ማህበራት፣ የዩኒየኖች

አባላት እና በየደረጃዉ የሚገኙ አስተዳዳሪዎችን ይጨምራል፡፡

በእርግጥ ጥረቶቻችን በሙሉ የሚያተኩሩት ከ12.5 ሚሊዮን

በላይ የሚሆኑ የሀገሪቱ የአነስተኛ ማሳ ባለይዞታ አርሶ አደሮች

ለሚጋፈጧቸው ፈተናዎች መፍትሄ በመፍጠርና ማሻሻያዎችን በማቅረብ

ላይ ነው። እነዚህም ፈተናዎች ከፍተኛ የስራ ትጋት የሚጠይቁና

ስጋትን የሚቀንሱ፣ አርሶ አደሩ ቤተሰቦቹን በተሻለ ሁኔታ መርዳት

እንዲችል ያላሰለሰ ዕገዛ የሚጠይቁ እንዲሁም ኢትዮጵያ ብሔራዊ

የምግብ ዋስትና ግብዋን እና ለወደፊት ትውልዶቿ ያላትን የረጅም ጊዜ

ኢኮኖሚያዊ የልማት ግብ ማሳካት እንድትችል ለመርዳት ቃል ኪዳን

የመግባት ፈተናዎች ናቸዉ፡፡

ይህን ቃል ኪዳን ለማሳከት የኤጀንሲው ሠራተኞች ደከመኝ ሰለቸኝ

ሳይሉ ጥረታቸውን አጠናክረዉ ይቀጥላሉ፡፡

ካሊድ ቦምባ

ዋና ሥራ አስፈፃሚ

የኢትዮጵያ ግብርና ትራንስፎርሜሽን ኤጀንሲ

conTenTs1. 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

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change generally comes in one of TWo Ways: By dEFAuLT, OR By dESIGn.

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.

our hisTory

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency is the result of a nearly two-

year, 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.

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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:

• Leadproblemsolvingefforts–incollaborationwiththeMinistryofAgriculture,

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

• Supportimplementationofidentifiedsolutionsbyprovidingprojectmanagement,

technical assistance, and knowledge sharing to implementing partners

• SupportthecapacitybuildingoftheMoAandpartnersatthefederal,regional,and

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.

our manDaTe our mission

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.

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.

1

2

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our approach: A TWO-TIEREd PROCESS

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.

our sTrucTure

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.

VA

LUE

CHAINS SYSTEM

S

INITIATIVES

our programmaTic

WorK is focuseD on Three Key

areas:

seeD | cooperaTives

soil healTh & ferTiliTy

householD irrigaTion

inpuT & ouTpuT marKeTs

research & exTension

eThiosis

Technology access & aDopTion | climaTe & environmenT

public privaTe parTnerships | genDer mainsTreaming

moniToring, learning & evaluaTion

Tef | WheaT | maize | barley

pulses | oilseeDs | rice*

coffee* | livesTocK*

sorghum*

* to be launched in the future

90%of seed reaching farmers.

seeD

2. 2012 highlights

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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

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?

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 large-

scale 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.

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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

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.

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 first-

of-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 2013. 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 2012.

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.

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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.

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.

confluence points completed (2012)

confluence points to be sampled (2013)

Detailed woreda mapping completed (2012)

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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.

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.

30,000metric tons of maize. The largest WFP Purchase for Progress (P4P) procurement from farmer cooperatives. Ever. Anywhere.

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

Injera,PLC,thecountry’sleadinginjeramanufacturer

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.

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.

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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:

1. 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.

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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

fArMErS’ ASSoCIATIoNS ANd CoopErATIVES CAN HAVE ENorMoUS poSITIVE IMpACT AroUNd THE worLd. IT’S TIME THEy dId THE SAME FOR ETHIOPIA.

in 2013Ethiopian cooperatives began

profitably exporting sesame for

the first time ever.

JUNE2011

AUGUST2011

OCT/NOVDEC2011

JANUARY2012

FEB/MARAPR/MAY2012

JUNE2012

First stakeholder workshophosted by FCA and ATA todiscuss the current stateand bottlenecks in the agricultural coop sector

Diagnostic of coop sectorinitiated in consultationwith FCA, RCPAs and other key partners

Agricultural CooperativesDevelopment Concept Notesubmitted to and fully approved by the Agricultural TransformationCouncil in consultation with FCA,RCPAs and the other key partners

Sector Strategy launchedand Strategy disseminationefforts begin

Series of consultations heldwith MoA, FCA, ATA, RCPAs,BoAs, coops and many other stakeholders to develop a Concept Note

Cooperatives Concept Noteupgraded to a Sector Strategy;agreed to by MoA, FCA, ATA,RCPAs, BoAs, and other key stakeholders

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.’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

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.

3. program updates

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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.

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.

SEEd

a few of the 2012 seed related interventions included: seed proclamationEthiopia’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, 2013. This new regulatory

framework provides clear and transparent guidelines for

the seed system, instituting new structures and protocols

and clarifying enforcement standards.

seed sector strategyThe 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 2013.

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YEArS

Ethiopia’s seed proclamation amended after more than

increased inspection and certificationThe 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 consistencyDue 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

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 supplyNearly 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 self-

pollinating varieties.

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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.

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.

CoopErATIVES

Just some of the cooperatives work underway includes:

sector strategy DevelopmentOver 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 excellenceThe 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 2013.

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 systemLeveragingsuccessfulbestpracticesfromcountries

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.

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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 high-

quality and fertile soils throughout subsequent growing seasons.

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.

SoIL HEALTH & fErTILITY

here are just a few of the projects the soil program has been working on:

expanded fertilizer TrialsCurrently, 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 facilitiesGiven 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 enhancementUnfortunately, 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.

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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.

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.

INpUT & oUTpUT MArkETS

a few of the projects the team has been working on so far are:

contract farmingForward 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 chainFertilizer 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 storageCreating 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 financeEthiopian 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.

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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 reserveBecause 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.

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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.

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 small-

holder 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.

rESEArCH & ExTENSIoN

some of the research & extension interventions underway include:

national agricultural research councilThe 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.

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biotechnology DevelopmentDespite 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 excellenceFarmer 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.

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LiketherelationshipofricetoAsia,ormaizetoLatinAmerica,tefisnotonlyafundamentalingredientinEthiopian

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.

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.

TEf

some of the impressive progress made so far includes:

farmer Training on new agronomic practicesWorking 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 30-50 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 TechnologiesCutting-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 ThreshersA 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.

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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.

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.

wHEAT, MAIzE & bArLEY

Just a few of the program’s 2012 projects have included:

purchase for progressOver 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.

brewing barleyDemand 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

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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 2013. The ultimate goal is to expand such

contracts to satisfy the increasing barley demand of

all local breweries in the coming years.

import substitutionWheat is Ethiopia’s third largest crop in terms

of production volume. However, low average

yields combined with high demand means that

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.

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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.

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.

pULSES & oILSEEdS

some of the interventions underway so far include:

better seedsDespite 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 2010-11

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 opportunitiesEthiopia’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

cooperativeunionsintheBecho,Dembia,andLume

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.

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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.

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.

HoUSEHoLd IrrIgATIoN

some of our early work in household irrigation includes:

groundwater mappingA better understanding of Ethiopia’s shallow ground-

water 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 standardsThe 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 provisionCurrent 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.

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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.

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.

TECHNoLogY ACCESS & AdopTIoN

a few of the projects we’ve already initiated include:

Quality protein maizeKnown 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 systemWheat, 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 supergranulesFertilizers 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 super-

granules (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.

mechanizationMost 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.

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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.

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.

pUbLIC prIVATE pArTNErSHIpS

some of the ppp efforts underway include:

pursuing partnershipsAgricultural 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

thesigningofLettersofIntent.TheATAhasbegun

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 opportunitiesTo 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 unitBuilding 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.

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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.

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.

CLIMATE AdApTATIoN & ENVIroNMENTAL SUSTAINAbILITY

a few of the related interventions to date include:

meteorological stationsThe 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 forecastsWeather 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.

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conservation agricultureMinimum 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.

extension TrainingAn 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.

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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.

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.

gENdEr MAINSTrEAMINg

some of the work being pursued in this area includes:

Training inside and outOften 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.

Likewise,theteamhaspartneredwiththeMinistry

of Agriculture’s Women’s Affairs Directorate, to

help build gender equality awareness and capacity

throughout the regional agriculture bureaus.

adding entrepreneursAbove 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 WomenDrawing 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

Global2000,atwo-yearWomen’sEconomicLeadership

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.

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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

anycorrectiveactionasnecessary.Lookingtowardthemediumandlongerterms,asimilarperformancemeasurement

system is in the process of being designed for Ethiopia’s entire agriculture system.

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.

MoNITorINg, LEArNINg & EVALUATIoN

a few of the mle efforts for 2012 included:

setting a baselineIn 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 WorkTo measure the success and impact of each ATA initiative,

ensuring their effectiveness and allowing us to learn from

andcorrectanyinefficiencies,theATA’sMLEteamhas

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 strengtheningInadditiontomonitoringourownwork,theATA’sMLE

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.

4. Way forward

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The Way forWarD

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:

• Systemicinterventionsthatwillstrengthenthe

“infrastructure” necessary to deliver sustainable

transformation to millions of smallholder farmers

across the entire country

• Concentratedgeographiceffortsthatintegratevarious

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

2013. 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 high-

impact 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.

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.

our parTners

Photo Credits: ATA staff, Talkingstick Pictures, and Renee ManoratGraphic Design: Cactus Communications

Jomo kenyatta Ave., Zequala Complex, 7th floor P.O. Box 708, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

t +251.115.570.685 // f +251.115.570.668

www.ata.gov.et