How Small-Scale Farmers Jumped Commercialisation Hurdles In Ethiopia

The use of improved crop varieties has created a credible pathway to commercialization for subsistence farmers in Ethiopia.

Researchers from World Agroforestry (ICRAF) and the Institute for Food and Resource Economics at the University of Bonn, Germany, who studied chickpea ( Cicer arietinum) farmers, contend that this transition can be replicated in other developing countries where small-scale farmers struggle to commercialise production owing to poor access to technology such as high yielding crop varieties. The team’s study was published in the journal, European Review of Agricultural Economics. The research adds to solutions for one of CIFOR-ICRAF’s key challenges: broken food systems.

The revelation is a key pointer for development initiatives, which have pushed for ways to strike a seamless transition of smallholder agriculture from subsistence to market orientation over the last few decades, with most policy environments aiming for the production and commercialisation of high-value products for domestic and export markets.

Smallholders are too often left behind by market-driven policies as these tend to require increased volumes and high-value cash crops that are the domain for larger-scale commercial farmers.

The research team found that the adoption of improved varieties led to improved production and market participation among smallholders, such as those involved in chickpeas production in Ethiopia where the crop has been identified as ‘promising’ for achieving the transition of small-scale producers to a more market-oriented and profitable farming system.

Previous work found that the adoption of improved chickpea varieties has indeed increased the welfare levels of households, with the adoption process mainly driven by significantly higher returns for these varieties , which made them attractive and helped their widespread adoption. The varieties also already had good market access, which further encouraged their adoption.

Most studies in Africa have focused on market-access factors, such as infrastructure or reliable connections to buyers, as the key barriers to commercialisation for smallholders.

This research now confirms that smallholders’ commercialisation depends not only on an efficient market but can also be supported through improved varieties and other ‘production shifters’ that are often designed to increase profitability and productivity.