Opportunities and Challenges in Marketing of Agricultural Inputs and Outputs: The Case of Damot Farmers’ Cooperative Union, Amhara Region

Yilkal Andualem Demeke

doi:10.7176/dcs/9-3-04

Abstract

Cooperatives, as economic enterprises and as self-help organizations, play a meaningful role in uplifting the socio-economic conditions of their members and their local communities. MPCSs improve farmers' access to agricultural inputs and market agricultural outputs and increase their bargaining power. This research conducted on opportunities and challenges of marketing of agricultural inputs and outputs in Damot Farmers’ cooperative union, Amhara region, Ethiopia. The main objectives were to investigate the opportunities and challenges in marketing agricultural inputs and outputs, in the case of Damot farmers’ cooperative union, Amhara Region. To accomplish this study both primary and secondary sources of data were used. Moreover, multi-stage sampling technique was employed at five-stage to select Bure Wereda, 6 MPCSs and 140 sample respondents on basis of systematic random sampling technique. Structured interview schedule used to collect primary data from famer members. And, data analysis carried out using descriptive statistics like frequency, mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values employed using SPSS software version 20 to investigate factors that determine the volume of agricultural input and output marketing and possible opportunities and challenges of cooperative societies. The results of performance of MPCSs were also presented organizing into two categories such as functional and financial performances. Volume of agricultural input and output marketing were used as key factors to analyze cooperatives’ performance and opportunities and challenges in agricultural input/output marketing in the study area. Improving members awareness, providing training and education for members, hiring professional management, increasing the financial power of cooperatives through sales of shares and running profitable business, developing vertical and horizontal integration of cooperatives and application of experience sharing among cooperatives were some of the intervention areas need to be considered by concerned stakeholders in the study area to improve the agricultural input and output marketing of cooperative societies. Keywords: Agricultural cooperatives, Agricultural inputs and outputs DOI : 10.7176/DCS/9-3-04 Publication date :March 31 st 2019

Highlights

Ethiopia’s vision in the economic sector is “to build an economy which has a modern and productive agricultural sector with enhanced technology and an industrial sector that plays a leading role in the economy; to sustain economic development and secure social justice; and, increase per capita income of citizens so that it reaches at the level of those in middle-income countries.”
The Growth and Transformation Plan(GTP) is directed towards achieving Ethiopia’s long term vision and sustaining the rapid and broad based economic growth anchored on the experiences that has been drawn from implementing development policies and strategies and undertaking policy measures for the challenges that has been surfaced in the course of implementation
This study describes and critically assesses the opportunities and challenges in marketing of agricultural inputs and outputs of Damot Farmers’ Cooperative Unionin the study areas

Summary

Introduction

Cooperatives are involving in inputs/outputs marketing activities, credit provision and providing other services to the members (Zerihun, 1998). The weak performance of the agricultural marketing (both inputs and outputs markets) in Ethiopia has been portrayed in various studies as a major impediment to growth in the agricultural sector and the overall economy (Dawit, 2005). With the tremendous growth in size and operations and complexity of agricultural marketing, cooperatives are facing a big challenge from both their members and management, and the competitors. The major challenge facing the agricultural cooperatives is how to operate and meet the needs of the members efficiently and effectively keeping in mind the basic principles of cooperation

Objectives

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Results

Conclusion