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Ethiopia: Smallholder farmers’ cooperatives sign an agreement with the Pedon Group in order to access the international market of pulses
14/11/2013
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Mr. Kassahun Bekele, GM of ACOS Ethiopia PLC and Dr. Tiberio Chiari, Project co-ordinator of Italian Cooperation
The rnAgreement is a result of the intermediation and technical assistance of rnthe Overseas Agronomic Institute (IAO) which, in order to expand and rnincrease the sustainability of the project “Agricultural Value Chains inrn Oromiya”, funded by the Italian Development Cooperation, has identifiedrn a strategic partner in ACOS. The Italian project aims at rnenabling 27 farmers’ cooperatives to improve the quality of their rntraditional products and, as a result, to access new and more profitablern markets. According to a rigorous value chain approach, all actors rninvolved in the two targeted crops, durum wheat and natural coffee, havern adopted the suggested production techniques, submitted the product to rnstrict quality checks and established continuous feedbacks among them. rnThe quality reached and the resulting market response have allowed rnproduction levels to increase by over 800% in just two harvesting rnseasons. There is an enormous potential for the production of rnpulses in Ethiopia. This new agreement will allow the most dynamic rncooperatives, which have already internalized the value chain approach, rnto open up to the international market of pulses by dealing directly rnwith a final purchaser/exporter, with no intermediation at all. The rnstructures and institutional relations already established within the rnproject will be utilized in a synergic manner, for instance the field rnassistance planned by ACOS will be complemented by the one provided by rnthe Sinana Agricultural Research Centre (SARC). The Unions have rngot the commitment of five cooperatives in the Gololcha and Ginir rndistricts to grow 121.5 hectares of red kidney beans and 14 hectares of rnchickpeas in compliance with international production standards. The rnPedon Group’s Ethiopian branch has provided the necessary seeds (130 rnquintals in total) and will collect the final product at the prevailing rnlocal market price, to which a positive or negative premium will be rnadded, depending mainly on the produce purity. In order to protect rnthe contractual parties, two insurance mechanisms have been introduced: arn policy that will reimburse ACOS of the cost of seeds, and another one rnprotecting farmers in case of crop failure occurring for drought and rnpests hazards. Both mechanisms are extremely innovative in the Ethiopianrn agricultural context, especially the latter, which will also be rnutilized as a case study. Ethio-Italian public and private actorsrn agree to work in full partnership in order to ensure that the promoted rnmarket-driven value chains will follow principles of economic and rnenvironmental sustainability, while relying on the smallholder farmers rnas the main producers, on their inherited land, for fulfilling the rngrowing national and international food demand. Initial field rnsurveys show that farmers are duly implementing the recommended good rnpractices for cultivation. This is a clear sign that the new pulse valuern chain is appreciated as a great opportunity by local communities, rnespecially because of the linkage with a world-renowned enterprise like rnACOS. |
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