Agriculture is an integral sector of the Ethiopian economy. As it determines the growth of all other sectors too, it can apparently be considered a priority area in the country’s economic development. A vast majority of the country’s population also depends on it for their subsistence as well as commercial purposes.
Despite being such vital sector, it is a disgusting fact that the sector is surrounded by a lot of challenges that hamper it from contributing for the socio-economic development of the country. One of the problems is the application of traditional agricultural technology by small-scale farmers who account for 95 percent of the total area under agricultural use. The statistics show that small-scale farmers produce a very large portion of the country’s subsistence and commercial agricultural produces.
Since these small holders depend on traditional production technologies, the sector could not see intended increment in agricultural productivity. Moreover, the small holder farmers continue to suffer from post-harvest-related problems like wastage. Lack of suitable market for their produces was also a big challenge.
To address these and all other challenges the government has been implementing various interventions for decades. The recent intervention is what is known as Agricultural Commercialization Cluster (ACC). According to the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), ACC Initiative contains clearly defined geographic clusters specializing in priority commodities across the four major agricultural regions of the country. These clusters are therefore meant to serve as models for learning as Ethiopia intensifies the ACC approach and scales up best practices across the country.
The ACC approach has been applied for couple of years and shown fruitful results. During the launching of the ACC program by the government of Ethiopia and European Union over the week it was indicated that ACC is boosting the historically low yields of Ethiopian smallholder farmers by organizing them into crop-specific clusters. This will help the farmers reap the economies of scale that come from combining numerous tiny smallholdings into larger farmed areas.
The Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) has spent the last two years testing and ramping up the clustering approach on farmland throughout the country. There are now 1.3 million farmers organized in 30,000 clusters across Ethiopia.
By building upon the achievements the government is likely to succeed in transforming the agriculture sector of the country to a large extent. For this end it should apply all local capacity and resources as well as promote cooperation with international development partners. In this regard the government’s venture to work in collaboration with the European Union and the Netherlands, among others is commendable.
The success of the program entails alleviation of a decades old economic problem and ushers in a new era in the economic development of the country. However it is also important to note that the success helps not only Ethiopia, but also serves as a best practice to replicate the valuable lessons to all African and other countries and address agricultural and food security challenges. Therefore, all other local and international developmental partners should work in close collaboration with the government of Ethiopia in the realization of the program.
The Ethiopian Herald, November 30/2019
BY HIZKEL HAILU
