PROGRESS REPORT

84 PROGRESS REPORT PROGRAM LEVEL PROGRESS REPORT 85
As one of the four primary regions targeted by the
Transformation Agenda during GTP I, Amhara boasts some
impressive results achieved from the implementation of
deliverables in a variety of program areas. For illustrative
purposes, achievements in three particular deliverables
(Extension Capacity Building, Rural Financial Services and
Direct Seed Marking) are highlighted below. In addition,
some details are provided on the Amhara Region’s progress
in identifying and initiating work within the Agricultural
Commercialization Clusters Initiative.
Amhara Region
Deliverable #41: Extension Capacity
Building
Ethiopia’s agricultural extension system is the
critical link between research and farmers for
effective dissemination and adoption of improved
technologies. Without an effective extension
system, yield- and quality-improving technologies
cannot reach the farmers they intend to help. As
such, the extension system must be innovative,
market-oriented, agro-ecologically adaptive and
sustainable to meet the needs of smallholder
farmers.
Toward this end, one particular deliverable in
the Transformation Agenda (D41) has prioritized
strengthening the extension packages of key
crops, particularly within the ACC woredas.
Through consultations with the MoA, the RBoA,
ACC leadership and pertinent staff, agronomic
training content and effective communication
methods for production technologies on priority
commodities have been identified. Furthermore,
the physical and financial plans for large scale
demonstrations for these crops were developed
in 2015.
In Amhara, 195 zonal and woreda experts,
460 DAs, and 982 farmers drawn from seven
zones, seven clusters, 54 woredas and 162
FTCs have received training on sesame, malt
barley, rice, maize, wheat and tef production. In
addition, 1,144 demonstration centers have been
established for this purpose. Field days at the
kebele, woreda, and zonal levels were organized
for farmers, as well as workshops for scientists
and radio broadcasts on pertinent topics.
Deliverable #28: Rural Financial Services
For farmers in Amhara, access to financing for
agricultural inputs is an important determinant
of whether or not they adopt and continue to
use productivity enhancing inputs. Despite
improvements in the rural financial sector in
recent years, critical weaknesses remain, such
as limited access to input credit, insufficient
incentive to save in formal institutions and
unavailability of risk mitigation mechanisms like
insurance at scale.
The Rural Financial Services (RFS) strategy,
developed along with stakeholders in 2012,
encompassed several recommendations
for addressing these challenges. One such
recommendation, an Input Voucher System (IVS),
has made remarkable progress in the Amhara
Region.
The new system was designed to improve
access to input credit, increase efficiency, and
reduce the fiscal burden of wholesale input loan
guarantee on regional governments. This is to
be achieved by shifting the lending emphasis
away from cooperatives and unions, toward
microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other
qualified financial institutions. In partnership
with the Amhara Credit and Saving Institution
(ACSI), the system was piloted in five woredas in
Amhara in 2014. Subsequently, this initiative has
been scaled-up to 73 woredas in 2015, servicing
almost 1.4 million smallholder farmers to buy 1.53
million quintals of input worth 2.1 billion ETB. The
system has also hugely improved the repayment
rate of input loans: all of the 52 million ETB in
input loans distributed to farmers in 2014 were
fully repaid the following year.
To support the system’s implementation, 4,636
experts were trained on the IVS and financial
literacy in Amhara. Three thousand new staff have
also been trained for deployment in 800 new
ACSI satellite offices scheduled to be opened as
the project is scaled-up further.
Deliverable #5: Direct Seed Marketing
Providing farmers with increased access to improved,
high-quality seed is an important step toward
raising individual yields, and thereby overall
national production. Throughout Ethiopia, seed
allocation and distribution are handled primarily by
the MoA and RBoAs, while retail seed distribution
is typically a time-consuming and resourceintensive
approach exclusively done through
primary cooperatives and unions. Consequently,
farmers have no other complementary options to
access quality seeds at a competitive price.
In order to complement the existing system, the
MoA, ATA and RBoAs developed an innovative
market-based seed distribution system, Direct
Seed Marketing (DSM), in 2011. The initiative aims
to reduce the number of steps in the seed supply
chain, while increasing producer and channel
competition. Through DSM, public and private
seed producers are allowed to market their seed
directly through multiple channels (cooperative
agents, private agents, or their own stores) in a
competitive manner, with strong public sector
oversight.
In 2014, over 60,000 quintals of hybrid maize
seed were supplied and marketed through DSM
in Oromia, SNNP and Amhara. The Amhara
Region reported particularly strong results,
with carryover seeds dropping to below 5% in
DSM woredas, from levels of up to 30% in the
Sesame
Sorghum
Cotton
Beef
Horticulture
Chickpea
Dairy
Maize
Tef
Beef
Dairy
Wheat
Maize
Beef
Red Peppers
Prioritized Commodities by ACC Cluster:
Primary Commodity
Secondary Commodities
traditional system. The study also indicates that
farmers in DSM woredas received seed 2-3
weeks ahead of planting time compared with
those in non-DSM woredas, which often reported
late seed delivery.
Deliverable #84: Agricultural
Commercialization Clusters
Agricultural Commercialization Clusters
Tef
Haricot Bean
Beef
Chickpea
The Agricultural Commercialization Clusters
(ACCs) concept uses a market-driven and
geographically-based approach to accelerate
the transition of smallholder farmers from
subsistence to commercial orientation. In
Amhara, nine geographic clusters were identified
for prioritization for inclusion in the ACC initiative.
These nine clusters prioritize eight commodities
(sesame, barley, goats, sorghum, tef, wheat,
maize and horticulture crops) but also include an
additional 15 commodities as secondary targets.
During the first year of implementation (2007/08
E.C./2015), Amhara has prioritized seven clusters
for piloting and learning, out of which maximum
focus is being given to two clusters (sesame and
maize) for market linkages and agro-processing.
In the coming months and years, greater focus
will be placed on strengthening market linkages
and enhancing agro-processing in order to
create a pull for smallholder farmers to adopt
technologies that can stimulate productivity and
production increases.
Barley
Lentils
Wheat
Faba Beans
Goats
Sorghum
Honey
Sorghum
Haricot Bean
Tomatoes
Beef
Barley
Wheat
Sheep
Dairy