Value chain observations Gamo Gofa

By: Dirk Hoekstra

Large ruminants

A visit to the Humbo market in Woileita District, where some of the animals from Gamo gofa are sold, showed the diversity of the animals being sold. The majority of the animals are males and are fattened (grain fed). A distinction is made between bulls for the export market - relatively young. Buyers have holding areas near Nazareth, from where they export to middle east countries (prices are lower than for animals for the domestic market - still quite a few farmers in Wolaita have changed to fattening bulls rather than oxen). The second category of animals are fattened oxen and some bulls, which are sold for local market (e.g.)institutions, butcheries/educational institutesin urban areas – Hawassa, Addis). The third category of animals is young bull (calves) which are sold for future traction and/or fattening to local producers. Female animals of different ages are sold in the local market, for reproduction/milking or for terminal local market. The female animals are not fattened.

Supply of inputs and services for producing (fattened) animals are mostly organized by private entrepreneurs. Purchase of animals by producers in Gamo gofa is reportedly from local markets by individuals. Feed to fatten animals consist of grasses (cut and carry), farm produced grains (mainly maize) and locally purchased “frusca”, which is available in small quantities in retailing shops Government provides veterinary services and drugs. There is also a privately operated veterinary drugstore in Arba Minch town

Production of fattened animals is practiced by farmers in 2 of the Districts in Gamo gofa Zone (confirmed by Community baseline data). Some farmers also use banana leaves stems and rejected bananas and mangoes. Some preliminary information was obtained on the effect of banana leftover as well as mango feeding. Too much leaves/stems seems to result in “watery” meat. Feeding banana and mango fruits do seem to have a positive effect however farmers and traders did not know the effect on meat quality.

Recommendations/actions

  • Convene a livestock platform meeting with value chain actors and service providers of fatteners, including participation by female actors, key export traders and Addis/Humbo traders and credit institutions.
  • Assess the existing fattening strategy with the aim of improving it.Conduct some controlled experimentation on banana leftover and mango feeding with the help of MSc students.
  • Explore possibility of forming marketing groups to target export market, including bulk purchasing arrangement for young male animals, community based livestock insurance for accidental death, appropriate feeding and veterinary advise, bulk/contract sale of animals – to be discussed in platform with follow up linkages between exporters and marketing groups.
  • Explore possibilities for forming marketing groups for domestic markets with similar interventions for fattened oxen.

Poultry

Some semi commercial poultry farms for egg production (up to 400 birds)are emerging in the Districts, as a result of the government’s efforts to engage youth and women groups in this business. Credit for such groups is provided by OMO micro finance. Capacity building is required; however available expertise at district level appears to be limited. It was also noted that supply of inputs, in particularly pullets was organized by the WoA from a multiplication center in Sodo. Although the price was quite low (Birr 17/2-month old bird), the composition of birds supplied was based on supply rather than demand i.e. 50% male and 50% female! The business plan prepared by the group (we visited) with the help of Woreda (credit) experts targeted the community market for eggs.LIVES also plans to include semi commercial poultry production, but advised such specialized farms (individuals/groups) to be started near to urban centers.

The local poultry system was not assessed during this mission for lack of time.

Recommendations/actions

  • Convene a livestock platform meeting with value chain actors and service providers of poultry producers, including participation by female actors, and credit institutions.
  • Target some semi commercial groups of egg producers near Arba Minch to develop the value chain for eggs from exotic breeds.
  • Make a quick assessment of the local poultry value chain and its different channels to develop a development strategy (see Sidama and Tigray report for possible interventions)

Small ruminants

A quick visit was made to one producer of goats which were fattened. The famer keeps a breeding stock of ewes and produces some fattened off spring from his own stock as well as from some purchased medium sized animals (ETB 450-500). He uses supplementary feed, including cotton seeds purchased/collected from local markets and households – the seeds are a byproduct of household level spinning activities.He also uses cereal grain/flour wastes from his own mill. He mentioned some disease problems (Lung, Liver & Pancreas related) and he got the medicine (mostly anti-biotic and antihelmentics) from Arba-Minch town. He sells after 3-4 months the animals between ETHB 800.00 – 1,000.00

Irrigated fruits and fodder

Fruit marketing is well advanced in the Zone as compared to other LIVES Zones. The banana market is centered on Addis Abeba and consists of private traders which have their own whole sale and retail network. A separate channel is the ETFRUIT which has its own production and distribution network. Farmers in Gamo Gofa use the private traders as well as cooperatives as sale outlets for their bananas. Cooperatives (26 in total) are united in a Union, who organized a contract for them with ETFruit, however the demand appears to be lower than the potential supply and farmers are therefore “forced” to also sell their bananas to private traders, who reportedly decide unilaterally on prices offered. The Etfruit channel is relatively secure and low risk for the cooperatives since they order certain quantities at an agreed upon price ahead of time. Farmers are paid on the spot for their produce (ETB 4.5/kg at the time of the visit). No details were obtained for banana sales to private traders, however it was mentioned that some traders provide producers with credit ahead of the actual purchase – they also reportedly cheat on weight. Recently an agreement was signed by the Union for exporting bananas (60.000 tons annually) at a farm gate price of ETB 3.5/kg. A trial shipment was organized last year with 160 tons. Another interesting development is the strategy of the Lenta cooperative to open its own processing/ripening facility (like in IPMS Metama) and retail distribution in Hawassa (started in the last 6 months). They receive support from SNV on business development and this support is planned to continue for the next couple of years. The local mangoes are also sold on contract basis to Africa Juice and ETfruit in a similar manner as described for bananas. Apple mango which has been introduced by projects and the Office of Agriculture and projects are being sold in small quantities and fetch a higher price (ETB 12/kg for local and ETB 18/kg for apple mango). Irrigated fodder production has not yet been developed, except commercial production of irrigated Alfafa and Lab Lab seeds. Seeds are sold to a trader in Sodo (ETB 250/kg) who reportedly sells to NGOs.

While originally farmers used dwarf Cavendish banana varieties, Giant Cavendish varieties are now also widely distributed and new varieites (like Williams are introduced by Melkassa ARC). Supply of seedlings of improved fruit varieties is organized through government nurseries. Irrigation pumps are supplied through the office of agriculture with credit from the micro finance institutions. Some attempts had been made in the past on training farmers to produce grafted mangoes as well as teaching farmers to top graft old trees with new varieties. Seed of forage seeds were obtained from the trader in Sodo (at ETB 350/kg)

Production of bananas and mangoes is partly based irrigation, which differs by location. Considering a watershed, upstream produced bananas benefitted from gravity fed irrigation schemes and resulted in good quality bananas. Downstream areas, near the Lake were grown under rain fed condition /ground water. Quality of these bananas is lower partly because of insufficient, lowering ground water table. Shallow wells and umps are being introduced to tackle this problem.

It was observed that the Alfalfa seed are so far are grown as an annual irrigated crop. No use was made the leafy growth to feed animals.

Plans are underway by LIVES team to produce fodder in protected watersheds’ area.

No assessment was made of the irrigated vegetable value chain system during this trip

Recommendations/actions

  • Convene an irrigated crop platform meeting with key stakeholders including cooperatives, extension services credit institutions, traders and producers (ensure gender equity).
  • Improve supply of improved mango varieties through establishment of private group nurseries. Scions can be obtained from improved varieties established earlier.
  • Discuss with SNV new initiatives to link producers with market initiatives for bananas and mango.
  • Provide agronomic advice to forage seed producers, especially on managing Alfafa as a perennial irrigated crop.
  • Consider watershed approach to combine the various livestock and irrigated agriculture interventions. If possible use watershed which have been targeted by existing government/NGO for physical infrastructure development, since LIVES interventions can complimentary.

Irrigated fruits and fodder

Fruit marketing is well advanced in the Zone as compared to other LIVES Zones. The banana market is centered on Addis Abeba and consists of private traders which have their own whole sale and retail network. A separate channel is the ETFRUIT which has its own production and distribution network. Farmers in Gamo Gofa use the private traders as well as cooperatives as sale outlets for their bananas. Cooperatives (25 in total) are united in a Union, who organized a contract for them with ETFruit, however the demand appears to be lower than the potential supply and farmers are therefore “forced” to also sell their bananas to private traders, who reportedly decide unilaterally on prices offered. The Et fruit channel is relatively secure and low risk for the cooperatives since they order certain quantities at an agreed upon price ahead of time. Farmers are paid on the spot for their produce (ETB 4.5/kg at the time of the visit). No details were obtained for banana sales to private traders, however it was mentioned that some traders provide producers with credit ahead of the actual purchase – they also reportedly cheat on weight. Recently an agreement was signed by the Union for exporting bananas (60.000 tons annually) at a farm gate price of ETB 3.5/kg. A trial shipment was organized last year with 160 tons. Another interesting development is the strategy of the OcholoLante fruit and vegetables producers’ primary cooperative to open its own processing/ripening facility (like in IPMS Metama) and retail distribution in Hawassa (started in the last 6 months). They receive support from SNV on business development and this support is planned to continue for the next couple of years. Mangoes are mainly sold for local market through traders. They tried to sell to African juice until the company quitted processing and packing mango juice recently. Etfruit is not taking their mango mainly due to its lower quality as compared to the mango from Assosa area. The quality of mango is reduced mainly due to pest attack (fruit fly) and poor harvesting techniques, among others. Apple mango which has been introduced by the Office of Agriculture and projects are being sold in small quantities and fetch a higher price (ETB 12/kg of fruit for local and ETB 18/kg of fruit for apple mango). Irrigated fodder production has not yet been developed, except commercial production of irrigated Alfafa and Lab Lab seeds by one household. He grew Alfalfa for the second time and Lab lab for the fourth time. Forage seeds were obtained from a trader in Sodo (at ETB 350/kg for Alfalfa). About 20kg of Alfalfa was sown for one hectare of land. Seeds are sold back to the trader in Sodo (ETB 250/kg of Alfalfa) who reportedly sells to NGOs.It was observed that the Alfalfa seed are so far grown as an annual irrigated crop. No use was made on the leafy growth to feed animals.

While originally farmers used dwarf Cavendish banana varieties, medium and giant Cavendish varieties are now also widely distributed and new varieties (like Williams) are introduced by Melkassa ARC). Supply of seedlings of improved fruit varieties is organized through government nurseries. Irrigation pumps are supplied through the office of agriculture with credit from the micro finance institutions. Some attempts had been made in the past on training farmers to produce grafted mangoes as well as teaching farmers to top graft old trees with new varieties

Production of bananas and mangoes is partly based on irrigation, which differs by location. Considering a watershed, upstream bananas producers benefitted from gravity fed irrigation schemes and resulted in good quality bananas. Downstream areas, near the Lake were grown under rain fed condition /ground water. Quality of these bananas is lower partly because of insufficient, lowering ground water table. Shallow wells and pumps are being introduced to tackle this problem.

Plans are underway by LIVES team to produce fodder in protected watersheds’ area.

No assessment was made of the irrigated vegetable value chain system during this trip

Recommendations/actions

  • Convene an irrigated crop platform meeting with key stakeholders including cooperatives, extension services credit institutions, traders and producers (ensure gender equity).
  • Improve supply of improved mango varieties through establishment of private and group nurseries. Scions can be obtained from improved varieties established earlier and owned by individual households.
  • Discuss with SNV new initiatives to link producers with market initiatives for bananas and mango.
  • Provide agronomic advice to forage seed producers, especially on managing Alfafa as a perennial irrigated crop.
  • Consider watershed approach to combine the various livestock and irrigated agriculture interventions. If possible use watershed which have been targeted by existing government/NGO for physical infrastructure development, since LIVES interventions can be complimentary.