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Ethiopia establishes seed growers and processors association

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February 16, 2009

Source: SEED INFO, Official Newsletter of the WANA Seed Network - No. 36, January 2009

Ethiopia is an agrarian country. About 86% of its population resides in rural areas and make a living from agriculture. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy in the traditional mixed crop-livestock production systems and largely practiced in the middle and highland agro-ecologies. The agricultural sector is largely under-developed and dominated by subsistence farmers, focusing on household food security.

There is a growing demand for improved seeds against a huge shortage in the country. About 90% of certified seed is supplied by a subsidized public seed enterprise. Public sector seed supply remains inadequate to satisfy a constantly growing demand from farmers. The role of the private sector in the production and marketing of seeds is low and confined to hybrid maize seed (25-30%).

A policy change is now in effect to encourage the participation of domestic and foreign companies in seed production and marketing of hybrid maize and self-pollinating crops in an attempt to address the critical shortage of improved seeds. The new strategy aimed at gradually withdrawing the public sector from production to regulatory tasks as the private sector develops and expands to take over seed production and marketing.

There is growing interest of the private sector to engage in seed production and marketing illustrated by the recent expansion of investments in commercial private farms in different parts of the country. Nevertheless, efforts have been isolated and beset with a number of policy and technical constraints. To date the private sector is too weak to take off the ground and make the anticipated contribution unless organized and backstopped by a strong policy environment.

The establishment of a national seed trade association was one essential component lacking in efforts to strengthening the private sector. The Ethiopian Seed Trade Association (ESTA) was established in 2005. To date it has only managed draft bylaws and obtain legal status. The slow progress and weak performance stemmed from lack of vision, clear work-plan, commitment and strong leadership.

ESTA, reinforced with the election of new five-member board in June 2007. The board has sets the annual plan of action and seeks financial support to kick-start activities. The association is currently undertaking the following activities: (i) establishing an office with essential facilities and forming an office management team; (ii) creating a forum for members and non-members to discuss policy and technical issues; (iii) delivering services to members; (iv) training of members; and (v) linking ESTA to African Seed Trade Association.

Objectives

The objectives of ESTA are as follows:

• To promote the use of improved quality seed conforming to national and international quality standards
• To promote the development of seed industry for improving crop production in Ethiopia, in Africa, and the world
• To represent the interests of the seed industry in Ethiopia and internationally
• To improve communication between the seed industry in Ethiopia and the world
• To promote activities that lead to regulatory harmonization in Ethiopia, Africa, and other regions to facilitate seed movement
• To interact with national and international organization involved in seed activities to promote the interests of the seed industry
• To improve communication between seed suppliers in Ethiopia, Africa and the entire world by providing necessary seed industry information and holding meetings, seminars, workshops, etc
• To advise relevant government regulatory authorities in drafting rules and regulations pertaining to seed trade, etc

Membership

Although over 20 firms are licensed to produce seed to date only the following are registered as members:

- three government farms (Bale state farm, Awassa state farm, Coffee plantation),
- Ethiopian Seed Enterprise,
- Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds Ethiopia, and
- 10 local private seed companies.

by Melaku Admasu, Pioneer Hi-bred Seeds Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; E-mail: melakua@ethionet.et


RELATED NEWS FROM SEED INFO, Official Newsletter of the WANA Seed Network - June 2007

June 2007

BIRTH OF THE ETHIOPIAN SEED TRADE ASSOCIATION (ESTA)
By Mr. Techane Adugna, MinAgri, Ethiopie
E-mail: tadugna2002@yahoo.com

Ethiopia has high potential for agricultural development with a total area of 113 millions hectares out of which
73.45 millions hectares (65%) arable arable. The area under major crops is about 7 millions hectares (9.5%).
The main food crops include cereals, legumes and oil seeds. Cereals occupy 80 to 85% of the total cultivated
area, followed by legumes and oil seeds The smallholder farmers, almost exclusively dominate the agricultural sector of the country. They account for about 96% of total land cultivated and more than 95% of all food
crops produced. Although smallholder farmers produce the bulk of crops, the production and productivity are very
low. The main reason is restricted use of inputs, notably improved seeds and fertilizers. The use of seed of poor
genetic potential is one of the contributing factors for low productivity. Over 95% of seed sources come from farmsaved seed of non-improved land races. The total seed requirement (potential demand) is estimated at 400,000 to 500,000 Metric tons of the major cereal crops. However, the amount of improved seed supply is very small i.e. about 22,000 Metric tons or about 6% of the potential demand for all crops per year. This indicates that only few farmers have access to seeds of improved public varieties. The existence of such an enormous gap
between potential and effective demand can be considered as the major indicator for the existence of
huge potential market for seed in the country.

The Government policy and strategy are aimed at broadening the agricultural production by improving the
support to research, extension, infrastructure, irrigation and above all the private sector. There is favorable
policy environment for the development of seed industry in the country.

Although the policy environment is conducive, the participation of the private sector is not to the level expected due to reasons mainly associated with lack of capital, limited technical know-how about seed and lack of confidence in the business.

Different public research centers and universities are involved in the seed variety development. Currently,
about 390 varieties (including cereals, pulses, oil and fiber crops, vegetable and forage crops) are released
and registered under the regulatory body. However, many of the released crop varieties are not multiplied
for commercial distribution mainly due to a weak linkage between research and seed growers.

Formal seed production is mainly in the hand of the Ethiopian Seed Enterprise (ESE), which is one of the
public enterprises involved in the production, seed quality control, distribution and marketing of both
foundation and commercial seeds. It mainly produces under contract arrangement with farmers and commercial seed growers. Limited private companies like Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds and some commercial seed growers are involved in the production of limited quantity of seeds with about 8% of the total certified seed supply annually.
 
It has been noted that the existing private and public companies produce limited amount of seed that do not
cope with the growing demand in the country. In addition, seed production is faced with substandard
seed quality, lack of facilities and equipments, absence of an organized seed system, loose coordination
among stakeholders.

In view of the above, the Ethiopian seed stakeholders got organized to set up the Ethiopian Seed Trade
Association (ESTA) whose objectives are mainly to work in partnership with the policy makers to address
these constraints in order to improve the supply of environment where the private sector will operate more
efficiently. With the funding from the French Government, the launch workshop of the association in which 25
persons participated, was held on June 13, 2007 at the Hilton Hotel in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Secretary General of the African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA), Mr. Justin Rakotoarisaona stated
during his presentation the key elements for the good functioning of seed association and gave practical
advice for its management. He insisted, among others, that the association should consider as a priority the
establishment of a Secretariat, which is crucial for the success of the association. He also thanked the French government for its financial support to the African seed industry for the creation and the reinforcement of national seed associations in Africa.

A Board composed of 6 members, chaired by Mr. Melaku Admasu of Pioneer Hi-Bred Seed Ethiopia, was elected during this launch. With a view to being networked with the African seed industry and beyond, the Ethiopian Seed Trade Association considers joining AFSTA amongst its priorities.

 

 

 

 

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