PROGRESS REPORT

90 PROGRESS REPORT PROGRAM LEVEL PROGRESS REPORT 91
Transformation Agenda deliverables have been on a successful
trajectory in several ways in the Tigray Region, including
enhancing the capacity of Community Based Seed Producers
(CBSPs) and the introduction of the Input Voucher System
(IVS) through RuSACCOs. Even greater gains have been
achieved through the initiatives undertaken to produce a
regional soil fertility atlas, launch a contract farming platform,
and institute integrated sesame interventions. Progress on
these three projects as well as Tigray’s work on the Agricultural
Commercialization Cluster Initiative are detailed below.
Tigray Region
Deliverable #10: EthioSIS Soil Fertility
Mapping and Atlas
The Ethiopian Soil Information System (EthioSIS)
initiative currently underway is working to provide
extension workers and farmers with detailed,
localized soil fertility information to better inform
soil nutrient recommendations and usage. To
this end, all of Ethiopia’s soils are being analyzed
using remote sensing and satellite technology,
and a map of each region is being developed
showing the fertility status of soils at the woreda
level.
A soil fertility atlas for the Tigray Region,
encompassing all of the region’s 35 rural
woredas, has been completed and handed over
to the Regional Bureau of Agriculture. Seventeen
soil fertility parameters were analyzed and seven
nutrients were found to be deficient in the
region. These include total nitrogen, available
phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, available
sulfur, and extractable iron, zinc and boron. As a
result, 11 fertilizers or fertilizer blends have been
recommended for the region.
Considerable capacity building has also been
undertaken to ensure that regional stakeholders
will carry out the soil fertility analysis work
effectively in the future. A soil drying shade was
constructed and accessories (mortars, grinders,
etc.) were provided for the Tigray soil laboratory.
A spectra analysis machine (MIR) and motor
deionizer were also procured for the facility
when the new soil analysis methodology was
introduced.
To encourage uptake of the recommended
fertilizers in the region, the fertilizer blending
initiative has established a fertilizer blending plant
near the city of Mekele with a capacity of
50,000 MT per year.
Deliverable #29: Contract Farming Platform
Efficiently connecting smallholder farmers to
markets is a crucial step toward transforming
subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.
Links to commercial buyers are particularly
important, as those buyers provide reliable
markets and often offer higher prices than local
and regional brokers.
Contract farming has the potential to improve
smallholder farmers’ livelihoods and increase
agricultural sector growth by making this link
between buyers and sellers. To formulate an
institutional solution, a new, comprehensive
contract platform has been launched that
facilitates linkages between farmers and buyers
by providing accurate market information and
profiles, facilitating negotiations and contract
signings, and enforcing the contracts through a
multilayered accountability system.
Considerable work has already been done
in terms of contractual farming agreements
between wheat producers and flour factories
in the Tigray Region. In 2015, 288,000 quintals
of wheat have been contracted between six
Farmers’ Cooperative Unions (FCUs) and three
major flour factories. Going forward, similar
agreements will be facilitated for other major
crops.
Deliverable #65: Integrated Sesame
Interventions
Oilseeds marketed internationally make up about
16% of Ethiopian exports in value. Oilseeds
also have the potential to become important
raw materials for domestic agro-industries, with
more structured value chains and investment in
processing into edible oil and seed cakes. Though
they have not benefitted as much from modern
agricultural techniques as cereals have, their
potential to impact smallholder farmers and the
economy of the Tigray Region and Ethiopia as a
whole remains vast.
In particular, production of sesame has huge
potential for growth. As such, a set of integrated
sesame interventions have been developed for
implementation in 24 woredas nationally, six of
which are in Tigray.
Trainings in Tigray on the post-harvest handling
and marketing of sesame were attended by
RBoA, RBoT and RCPA representatives from
two zones (West and North West Tigray) and six
woredas, as well as representatives of TAMPA,
TMF and two cooperative unions (Dansha and
Setit Humera). These experts in turn cascaded
their training down to DAs who have since
assisted smallholder farmers in reducing postharvest
loss and ensuring the marketing of high
quality sesame produce.
In addition, significant work has been done to
build the capacity of coop unions and other actors
closely linked with farmers to export directly
to international buyers. With this in mind, an
export market consultant was hired to provide
market information on a daily basis to sesame
cooperatives in Tigray. Potential buyers of the
Sesame
Beef
Sorghum
Prioritized Commodities by ACC Cluster:
Primary Commodity
Secondary Commodities
Agricultural Commercialization Clusters
crop were identified and linkages facilitated
with sesame producing unions. Finally, a
working group for sesame stakeholders is being
held on a monthly basis to identify marketing
challenges faced by sesame unions and put forth
recommendations to overcome their difficulties.
Deliverable #84: Agricultural
Commercialization Clusters
In Tigray, four geographic clusters were identified
for prioritization for inclusion in the ACC initiative.
These clusters prioritize four commodities
(wheat, tef, sesame and horticulture crops) but
also include an additional 11 commodities as
secondary targets.
Tigray has focused on two clusters (wheat and
sesame) to initiate the work. The region has
made significant strides in implementing the
ACC initiative by focusing on issues related to
production and productivity, market linkages,
aggregation and agro-processing. In the coming
months and years, greater focus will be placed on
targeting strategic opportunities for commodities
such as sesame, honey, horticulture, and many
others.
Tef
Dairy
Honey
Pulses
Horticulture
Beef
Wheat
Barley
Dairy
Honey