Agricultural Commercialisation In Coffee Growing Areas Of Ethiopia

Most Rwandan coffee is currently grown and processed the same way it was a decade ago. Consequently, Rwanda’s coffee production and marketing system has not been able to keep up with changes in the global market for high quality coffee. Given world market gluts of relatively poor quality coffee, Rwanda is now exporting a product that fetches low prices. Despite the challenges in coffee marketing and production, coffee remains one of Rwanda’s most important official sources of foreign exchange and the drop in production is of major concern to both the public and private sectors. In an effort to assist decision makers in the coffee sector better understand factors affecting farmers’ production decisions and their attitudes about coffee, the FSRP fielded a nationally representative survey in 2002. The survey results show that the sector appears to be at a turning point—significant numbers of farmers have moved away from coffee with more seemingly on the cusp of removing more trees, or “decaffeinating” their fields. While the overall picture presented in this report is one of decline, there are also some encouraging changes. Liberalization of coffee policies in the mid-1990s seems to have increased yields by taking the poorest fields out of production. Growing farmer interest in intercropping coffee with food crops suggests that there may be a means of stretching Rwanda’s most limiting resource—land area— thereby enabling farmers to achieve a better combination of food and cash crops. Also, the fact that the coffee sector survives at all in the face of numerous adversities is a weighty testament to its potential.

The argument for promoting cash crops in developing countries has generally been based on their contribution to small farmer incomes and their impact on other household activities such as household crop production through interlinked markets. While these arguments are supported by some empirical results, there is little information on the impacts cash cropping can have on these household activities in the absence of interlinked markets. In addition, the impacts of cash cropping may depend on the types of cash crops studied, time and place. Perennial cash crops (PCC) can relax household liquidity constraints for purchasing productive inputs, maintain soil fertility and moisture and save inputs such as seeds and draft power, which can be used for food crop production even in the absence of arrangements for interlinked markets. In this study we build on previous studies by developing key hypotheses by which PCC (Chat, coffee and sugarcane) affect food crop production and the implication for household food security. In addition, we look at the link between perennial food crop, enset (Ensette venttricosum), and other annual food crops. We empirically measure these effects using survey data on 150 rural households collected in 1999 in Ethiopia. Our results indicate that-after controlling for conventional inputs, household wealth variables, education and other variables, higher chat (Catta edulis) production is associated with reduced value of food crop yields and total value of food crop production. On the other hand, higher sugarcane production is correlated with higher value of total food crop production and productivity. Moreover, more intensive coffee production is associated with more intensive enset production. However, production of coffee and enset do not have significant effects on food crop production and productivity. These results suggest that while farmers can gain from sugarcane production through cash income and its impact on food crops, coffee and enset can be produced to bring additional income to the household at no significant cost to food crops. The real impact of chat on the welfare of households should be viewed in terms of its opportunity costs and its contribution to household income. Keywords: Ethiopia, Cash crops, Food crops, Productivity, Enset.

Vietnam coffee sector plays a crucial role not only in the country’s economy but also in the global coffee market, and improving coffee production efficiency may benefit coffee producers. However, small-holder coffee farming households still encounter many difficulties regarding resources and socio-economic conditions affecting coffee production efficiency. This study examines relationships among income diversification, rural credit loan, labor dependence, and technical efficiency in coffee production through a face-to-face survey with participation of 143 coffee farming households conducted in Cu M’gar District, Dak Lak Province, Vietnam. The stochastic frontier model shows that the mean of technical efficiency scores is 0.64, and it also verifies the existence of inefficiency variation. Both Maximum Likelihood Estimate (MLE) and Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) consistently indicate that a higher level of diversity in income sources negatively affects coffee production efficiency. Additionally, independence in labor resource for coffee farming may help farmers increase technical efficiency of coffee production. Credit loan has a positive and statistically significant relationship with technical efficiency of coffee production. These relationships hold especially true for smallholder coffee farms with ethnic minority household heads. The policy options of credit loan access, intensive investment in coffee production rather than diversification of coffee farmers’ income sources, and independent management strategies for labor sources are suggested as an integrated approach to improve technical efficiency in coffee production of smallholder coffee farms.

The Government of Ethiopia focuses on Agricultural Commercialization to meet the challenge of improving rural incomes by introducing Agricultural commercialization cluster. However, there are no adequate studies on level of commercialization and factors affecting Farmers’ potato commercialization in Kofale District. This study was aimed to identify level and factors affecting farmers’ level of potato commercialization. A two stage random sampling procedure was used to select 150 sample households potato producer. Descriptive statistics and econometric model were used to analyze the data. About 18% of sample farm households were low level of commercialization, about 15% medium and about 67% of them categorized under high level of commercialization. Truncated model was used in the econometric analysis. Education status, land allocated for Potato production and Access to market information influenced level of potato commercialization positively and significantly. The study indicated that the government, stakeholders and concerned bodies need to focus on facilitating farmers to participate education by providing adult education and extension based education, strengthening the existing livestock providing improved health services and better livestock feed (forage), improve productivity of land by providing technology and disseminate market information to producers so as to improve intensity of potato commercialization.

“They Call Us Thieves and Steal Our Wage”: Toward a Reinterpretation of the Salvadoran Rural Mobilization, 1929–1931

The research is directed to systematization of information on trends in the development of the world coffee market in order to identify problems for the period from 2016 to 2021. That is why the authors not only systematize information, but also conduct competitive analysis based on statistical databases. The subject of the research is a competitive analysis of the world coffee market. The goal of the article is research and analysis of the current state of the world coffee market, identification of key players on it who are the main founders of its development processes, building a profile of their competitiveness. The following tasks are solved in the article: analysis of the current state of the world coffee market and determination of the trend of its development; identification of key players in the global coffee market and analysis of their financial indicators; assessment of the competitiveness of the largest coffee production companies in the world according to certain parameters. The methods used are: analysis and synthesis, comparison and grouping, comprehensive assessment. The results have been obtained: determining the current state and trends in the world coffee market, prices for green coffee beans, world volumes of domestic coffee production (harvest) and exports, main countries-importers and exporters of coffee beans, retail prices of roasted coffee beans among the countries of the world, volumes of sales of ready-made coffee beans, soluble products in the world, shares of the retail market trade of the world’s largest producers of grain and instant coffee products, the ratio of sales of finished coffee products in the world by geographical indication. An assessment of the competitiveness of the researched companies for the production of ready-made coffee products was carried out according to parameters, which made it possible to identify three leaders in the world market. Conclusions. The results of the competitive analysis of the global coffee market can be used in the work of consulting companies, business analysts and coffee business owners. The practical benefit of this research lies in the determination of key indicators of market functioning and the formation of a structural approach to conducting a competitive analysis of not only the world, but also the national coffee market, based on information from statistical databases.

Coffee is the most important cash crop commodity to the Ethiopian economy. About 15 million peoples have been directly or indirectly deriving their livelihoods from coffee product. The coffee marketing chain in Ethiopia is weak in terms of linkages with industry, agro processing and value-addition downstream of farms, provision of farm inputs upstream, and poor post-harvest operations, storage, distribution and logistics. This has resulted in poor performance of the sector mainly on the targets of export earnings that the government has planned to attain. This study aims at examining the basic factors that determine coffee marketing on growers and suppliers in Keffa Zone Gimbo woreda. Purposive and two stage random sampling technique were used and the data was collected from 78 coffee producers and supplier. The data collection tools used for the study were interview and observation on the determinants of coffee marketing in the coffee producers as well as coffee suppliers in the study area. Tobit regression was used to identify the main determinants of coffee marketing and to identify the extent of each factor on coffee producer and supplier. The result indicates expansion of illegal trade was significantly hinder the coffee market participation and reduce the amount of coffee supplied to the market. On the other hand access to market, training access, transportation access, farming experience and land size allotted to coffee production was found positive and significant. In addition restricted time schedule to buy and sell coffee product was also discourage the coffee marketing. Restricted time schedule sometimes resulted in oversupply of coffee product and low market price. Therefore, all responsible bodies like federal and regional government, kaffa zone, traders, investors, ECX, NGOs etc. should work together in order to make the society beneficiary from marketing of coffee.

The poverty-reduction strategy adopted by Ethiopia seeks to achieve growth through the commercialisation of smallholder agriculture. Commercialisation of agriculture is also a core research theme of the Future Agricultures Consortium. The empirical research reported in this paper focuses smallholders, that are farming households, who are established growers of highly marketable crops, in areas already well-linked to markets. Two commodities were selected for the study: coffee and tef. Both are important to the national economy, and both are grown and marketed by millions of smallholders. The two commodities have both similar and contrasting characteristics. Both are labour-intensive crops with seasonal labour-demand peaks, met partly by migrant workers. Both are produced primarily by smallholders (although there are also a few large enterprises growing coffee). Both commodities command export as well as domestic markets, although tef has been primarily a domestic product in the past while coffee is a major national export. Most obviously, tef is both a food and a cash crop, and is therefore fungible either for farm consumption or sale. Coffee, by contrast, is a non-food crop grown primarily for the market. The study on coffee is reported separately. The level of commercialisation in the study areas is far higher than the national average. The average farmer sold almost half (49.7%) of his or her crop production (in value terms). The degree of commercialisation, however, differs widely across sampled households, which implies a correspondingly wide variation in the potential and constraints for further commercialisation. Therefore, any agricultural commercialisation strategy should be customized for different groups of farmers. Despite the relatively high degree of market orientation in the study areas, the size of market (per seller) is very thin. The volume of trade is constrained by low per capita production. The size of farmland owned and cultivated is very important to farmers\' participation in output markets. Similarly, both the total value of farm production and the proportion of land allocated to tef (the major cash crop) had a positive and significant impact on a household\'s degree of market participation, measured in terms of gross income from crop sales. On the other hand, the effect of household self-sufficiency in food (measured as the percentage of consumption that is self-produced) was negative. This implies that households who depend more on the market for their food access also participate more in output markets. In other words, their participation in food markets is high both as sellers and buyers. The findings of this study broadly support the PASDEP\'s dual strategy of increasing agricultural commercialisation while promoting non-farm economic growth. Higher levels of household commercialisation appear to be associated with better standards of welfare (including food consumption), confirming that smallholders can benefit directly from greater engagement with markets. At the same time, a minority of farmers even in these relatively commercialised areas are leading marginal and largely subsistence-oriented farming livelihoods, supplementing their production income through renting out land. Combined with the finding that higher non-farm incomes are associated with lower agricultural commercialisation, this underlines the importance of developing sources of non-farm employment alongside intensification of agriculture, in order to provide favourable conditions of exit from farming for some less productive farmers and landless youth. The suggested direction of change is towards a more diversified rural economy, aiming for higher returns from agriculture alongside a wider range of local income and livelihood options. Ethiopian Journal of Economics Vol. 16 (1) 2007: pp. 57-88

Farm Production Diversity and Dietary Quality in Smallholder Farm Households

The adverse effect of climate change on agriculture is well-documented and is a cause of concern for governments globally. In addition to concerns over food crop production, the economies of numerous developing countries rely heavily on cash crops. The coffee and tea sectors are key in Kenya’s economy, contributing significantly to the gross domestic product, foreign exchange, and the direct or indirect employment of millions. Farmers engaged in the production of coffee and tea are predominantly small-scale farmers, with the majority farming on less than five acres. Climate change poses a threat to the production of these two crops and by extension to the economy of Kenya and the livelihood of farmers and those employed in these sectors. This study identifies the challenges posed by climate change in the tea and coffee sectors, the adaptation and mitigation measures identified, and the scope of their implementation. The production, processing, and marketing of tea and coffee in Kenya differs widely in terms of the institutions and institutional arrangements in the two sectors. This study will therefore analyze the role played by institutions in both sectors and how this affects climate change adaptation and mitigation measures by small-scale farmers.

The adverse effect of climate change on agriculture is well-documented and is a cause of concern for governments globally. In addition to concerns over food crop production, the economies of numerous developing countries rely heavily on cash crops. The coffee and tea sectors are key in Kenya’s economy, contributing significantly to the gross domestic product, foreign exchange, and the direct or indirect employment of millions. Farmers engaged in the production of coffee and tea are predominantly small-scale farmers, with the majority farming on less than five acres. Climate change poses a threat to the production of these two crops and by extension to the economy of Kenya and the livelihood of farmers and those employed in these sectors. This study identifies the challenges posed by climate change in the tea and coffee sectors, the adaptation and mitigation measures identified, and the scope of their implementation. The production, processing, and marketing of tea and coffee in Kenya differs widely in terms of the institutions and institutional arrangements in the two sectors. This study will therefore analyze the role played by institutions in both sectors and how this affects climate change adaptation and mitigation measures by small-scale farmers.

Global coffee markets entered into a deep cyclical downturn from the mid 1950s. As producers, notably Brazil and Colombia, continued to increase their output, intense struggles arose among global competitors for larger slices of a contracting market. The prospect of an economic catastrophe, following the release of Brazil's surplus stocks, preoccupied Kenya's colonial government, which was dependent on tax revenues derived from coffee sales, and was less able to support the settler-dominated industry in the face of the increased costs incurred by the Mau Mau Emergency after 1952. This left European settlers exposed, with many barely able to recover their costs of production. What began as a counter-insurgency strategy, by allowing an elite of African farmers to grow Arabica coffee (a privilege formerly reserved to settlers) was enlarged and accelerated in response to unrelenting global market pressures. These compelled the colonial government to beckon low-cost African farmers into coffee production, in a bid to save its tax base and ensure the survival of the coffee sector. Even though the Coffee Marketing Board confiscated much of their income, African farmers proved well able to rally family labour and achieve surpluses. Rationalization of production and the re-organization of the commodity chain to maintain high quality at lower cost were decisive in both reconfiguring the economic and social relationships that underpinned Kenya's independence in 1963 and securing the country's place on the world market. The aim here is to explain the crisis, and its grip on Kenya's economy during the transition to independence and beyond.

Development of household coffee industry can be used as a strategy to redistribute farmers’ household income. Through production process, farmer can create value-added by producing high value commercialized products. The objective of this research were to assess coffee price dynamics in Pasuruan district; and to analyze the value-added of coffee products produced by farmers. This research was carried out in Pasuruan district including Prigen, Tutur, Purwodadi, Purwosari, and Puspo sub-districts. Respondents were selected by using snowball sampling method as much as 16 farmers. Data used in this research preferred primary data with secondary data as a supporting data. Data were analyzed with descriptive analysis, inductive analysis, and Hayami method. The results showed that the average of farmer’s share in Robusta coffee sales had exceeded 80% of the international market and Lampung spot market. meanwhile, the average of farmer’s share in Arabica coffee sales was more than 40% of the international market and Medan spot market. Higher value-added could be created by conducting downstream processing as one of product diversification activities. Robustaand Arabica coffee which had been marketed as roasted coffee and ground coffee would provide a higher value-added than that of primary products (cherries, dried cherries, green bean). Based on these cases, farmers could gain the highest value-added by marketing ground coffee products.

In sub-Saharan countries like Ethiopia, COVID-19 affected not only the health sector, but also the agricultural productivity and marketing, especially affecting coffee producers’ probability of market participation. The study was conducted on the effects of COVID-19 on smallholder coffee producers’ coffee market participation in Godere district, southwestern Ethiopia. This study aimed to identify the effects of COVID-19 on coffee producers, its effect on the decisions of market participation mechanisms, and the prevention mechanisms employed during the pandemic. For this study, qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources by using a semi-structured interview schedule with well-trained data collectors. The data was analyzed, and a simple random sampling technique was used to select 384 coffee producers at 95% confidence level. The study result shows that the level of coffee producers’ market participation was reduced from 100% to 81.25% because of COVID-19’s effect on smallholder farmers, with 18.75% failing to participate in the coffee market. COVID-19 prevention mechanism provided by the government for social movement was strongly affecting farmer levels of market participation. Most of the coffee producers agreed that COVID-19 affected their probability of coffee market participation because concerned stakeholders in the sector were not well subsidized to recover from the depression. Most of the farmers were not effectively getting financial services from aid organizations and government to mitigate the impact on their livelihood. Generally, COVID-19 strongly affected the levels of coffee producers’ market participation, and it is advisable for concerned bodies to support producers by providing subsidies and creating market linkages.

Ecophysiology of coffee growth and production in a context of climate changes