Context:
Around 80 per cent of Ethiopia’s population depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Agriculture also accounts for 40 per cent of the country’s economic output. Thanks to its favourable location and climate, Ethiopia could increase its agricultural productivity. But this potential remains untapped.
This is partly because smallholder farmers have only limited use of modern agricultural machinery on their farms. As a result, they produce less and have lower incomes. The approximately 400 mechanisation companies that provide ploughing or combine harvesting services, for example, are unable to meet demand.
The Ethiopian Government is seeking to take a more modern and market-oriented approach to agriculture in order to feed the growing population. However, the necessary legal and institutional framework is not yet in place.
Objective:
The Ethiopian Government is successfully implementing its strategy to transform traditional farming into an efficient and forward-looking agricultural system.
Approach:
The project works in the following areas:
• Training and awareness-raising: showing smallholders the benefits of modern agricultural machinery, improving the skills of mechanisation service providers and disseminating knowledge products that enable informed investment decisions.
• Institutional development: supporting organisations that provide training in the use of agricultural machinery and promoting dialogue between public, private and civil society actors.
• Policy and regulation: supporting the Ethiopian Government in creating the legal and institutional framework for more high-quality mechanisation services.
• Innovation: introducing strategies to develop ideas and technologies that increase agricultural productivity while mitigating the typical problems of smallholder farmers, such as post-harvest losses.