The Agricultural Transformation Institute is one of the institutes established to modernize the agricultural sector. It is an institution that works by identifying long-standing and major bottleneck problems in the agricultural sector and generating solutions in order to increase production and productivity and benefit the producer and consumer as well as the growth of the country’s economy.
One of the activities that the institution performs to ensure the growth of production and productivity as well as the benefit of the farmers is advisory service provided to the farmers through digital technology. The institute, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, has developed and implemented a platform called 8028, which makes the advisory services provided to the farmers efficient, easy and convenient. The Senior Director General of the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute, Chimdo Anchala (PhD), said that the farmers are calling 8028 on their mobile phones and are getting solutions to any problems they face in their agricultural work.
As he said, in this system, a high level of advisory service is currently provided to the farmers. The farmers call 8028 toll-free number and explain the problem in brief and are getting quick response and counseling service.
Dr. Chimdo recalled that until now counseling services were being provided in this system only for crop products. At present, the preparations for developing a system to include market information and make it accessible to farmers and pastoralists have been completed. For this purpose, the institution has agreed to work with MERCY CORPS Ethiopia and USAID Feed the Future Transforming Agriculture.
It was necessary to expand the access to advisory services and market information, which was only for crop products, to animal resources as well. In particular, the agricultural advisory services provided in Afar and Somali regions will focus on livestock. Farmers or herders of the Afar and Somali regions who participate in animals’ rearing will be able to get this information and make good use of it.
So far, 130,000 pastoralists in these regions are using this information. This indicates that there is a high demand. The institution has made an agreement with the two partner organizations to expand the use of the system in these regions.
The organizations will provide financial support. USAID Feed the Future Transforming Agriculture will support 23 million Birr and MERCY CORPS Ethiopia will support five million Birr. The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute will support six million Birr to jointly develop the system for the benefit of farmers and pastoralists. Since digital system is like raising a child, it is necessary to develop the system by constantly adding new things and increasing its capacity, he said.
This system, as to him, provides great support to increase the capacity of farmers and pastoralists. It will be developed especially when they are managed in a way that is suitable for farmers and herdsmen. After this system is developed, farmers in the region, especially pastoralists, as well as development workers in the region will have access to this information.
The information is very fast response so that the pastoralists would call and get an answer within 24 hours. If they do not get an answer, the information will be sent directly to the institute, and the institute will provide follow-up and support. This will enable farmers and pastoralists to quickly access current information about agriculture.
As the Deputy Director General explained, among the various information that the farmers and herdsmen get through the technology are information on locusts and other pests and by identifying these problems through research, it will be possible to take the necessary precautions by making the upcoming danger reach the farmers based on the information available from the satellite. Information will also be made accessible along with relevant advice. Farmers and ranchers can take the necessary precautions by accepting this counseling service.
The contribution of the system to the farmers is very high and significant. In particular, it will contribute significantly to increase production and productivity and to be able to access market information. Currently, the pastoralists do not have market data. As they have no information about how much and where they buy and sell, they are vulnerable to middlemen. Both the producer and the consumer are victims as the middlemen have a large share especially in agricultural products.
By entering the producer and the consumer in this system, both parties will have the information. The system can completely remove the illegal middlemen by connecting the producer and the consumer, Dr. Chimdo said.
He mentioned that they have been able to get into action by hiring experts who collect market data in every district. Market data is collected every week and when its accuracy is verified, it will be entered into the system and it will be used by the producer and the consumer as needed.
Another is the digital payment system, which is said to provide efficient service in the supply of agricultural inputs. This will eliminate the traditional practice. It was pointed out that the electronic payment system, which can control the transport of fertilizer from Djibouti until it reaches Kebele and distributes it to the farmers, will also modernize the distribution of fertilizers. Farmers use their mobile phones to request agricultural inputs. They will make the payment through electronic payment method. For this, a serial number read with the system is given. This gives them information about where and when to take the resource. Therefore, it will be possible to take it from local cooperatives. The service is also said to be easy to use, convenient and cost-effective.
Dr. Chimdo mentioned that this system has been started on a trial basis. It has been started in 65 districts on a trial basis. After this, the debris around the compost is removed. The system will remove greedy traders as well. In this situation, he said, “The technology seen in other countries can be applied in our country as well.”
Mandefro Nguse (PhD), the director general of the Agricultural Transformation Institute, said that the institute works to identify the basic problems in the agricultural sector through research and after identifying them, it will propose solutions.
The institute is providing counseling services for the problems farmers are facing in connection with the agricultural work. At present, it has reached an agreement to work with partner organizations to implement a modern system of obtaining market price information so that the pastoralists can sell their animals at current prices.
It focuses on the health care and welfare of animals, including the trade of animals. The experts of the institute will be present in every district, i.e. in the areas where there are animal markets, and the information will be collected and distributed after studying the market situation in each area. The information will be accessible to anyone who wants it.
The information can also be accessed through a voice call to 6077 and a short text message. This agricultural information service for farmers and pastoralists as well as the digital service of the national market information system will be provided in different languages. The information will be accessible not only to farmers, pastoralists and semi-pastoralists, but also to consumers and those who provide slaughterhouse services, Dr. Mandefro said.
He pointed out that the information will show where, at what price, what kind of animal is being sold, and announced that the same service will be provided for crop production. This will benefit the farmers and consumers. It prevents the farmers and ranchers from selling their products and animals unfairly. This information system will serve both the farmer and the consumer and will work with the purpose of increasing the productivity and income of the pastoralists and farmers.
Dr. Mandefro recalled that this information system was implemented a year ago and that farmers and pastoralists are using it through information exchange. The service is expanding, and it was possible to increase Afar and Somali regions with the current agreement. Following this, the users of the service have increased from 157 districts to 250 districts and the accessibility is expanding.
The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute, which is striving to modernize agriculture, is doing this work in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture will enter into this system and improve its capacity. It is expected that the knowledge and experience gained from this system will be combined and adequately prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and will be greatly expanded and continued when the Agricultural Transformation Institute ceases to function.
BY BACHA ZEWDIE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 1 DECEMBER 2023
