White pea beans: Ethiopia's latest cash crop

International market opportunities for Ethiopian white pea beans are soaring sky high. Ever since beans were included in Ethiopia's Commodity Exchange (ECX), world markets for white pea beans have grown significantly. The ECX is a unique partnership of market actors who promote the country's agricultural products. The bulk of who include traders, cooperative unions, and the government. As a trade organization, it serves markets in Europe, Middle East, southern and northern Africa, India, and Pakistan. The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT, its Spanish acronym) is a research organization based in Colombia that facilitates the work of the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) in 28 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The CIAT-PABRA collaboration, working through the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), has been an important part of Ethiopia's development efforts since 2004

Sub Saharan Challenge Program (SSA CP) Lake Kivu Pilot Learning Site (LKPLS) market baseline survey report

The main purpose of this report is to give market situational account upon which subsequent efforts will be built to provide efficient marketing systems that work better for smallholder farmers in the LKPLS. Specifically, in this report we give the knowledge of current socio-economic characteristics of traders and an assessment of value chains, access to market information and other market services, existing constraints and opportunities for improved market access and diversified agro-enterprises

Determinants of coordination and supply chain performance The case of fresh milk supply chains in Kenya

The study uses Transaction Costs Economics Theory and Supply Chain Management frameworks to investigate determinants of coordination and supply chain performance in the Kenyan milk supply chains. The transactions investigated are between milk producers and buyer customers, between milk retailers and their milk suppliers and, between the retailer outlets and their buyers. Coordination is defined by the kind of contracts used in transactions between the sellers and the buyers of milk. On the other hand, supply chain performance is defined by the extent to which the supply chain partners are satisfied with key aspects of their transactions with their partners and is measured on likert type scales. The data used was collected in two districts in Kenya between May 2005 and September 2005. Multinomial logit models and ordered probit models were used to analyze data on determinants of coordination mechanisms supply chain performance, respectively. The results of the study provide a framework for characterizing coordination mechanisms, and factors influencing coordination modes or arrangements in the Kenyan fresh milk supply chain. Three main coordination mechanisms were identified in the milk supply chains: spot market contracts, verbal contracts, and written contracts. The results show that the coordination and performance are significantly influenced by location and socioeconomic characteristics of the agents, firm specific and, transaction cost characteristics. The study shows that certain state interventions may be necessary for the commercial development of the dairy industry especially with regard to reduction of key transaction costs, among them road transport infrastructure, farmer cooperative organizations, information and market search and contractual support institutions. Key words: New Institutional Economics, Transaction Costs, Coordination Mechanisms, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Performance, Milk Supply chain, Household Model, Multinomial Logistic Regression, Ordered Logistic Regression, Kenya

Workshop Report: Launch of Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) and Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture Project

This report presents the outputs of the joint launch of the Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) program of Meteo Rwanda and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture (RCSA) project. This launch brought together key government agencies in Rwanda, research organizations, farmers’ representatives, development partners, non-governmental organizations and media. The aim of the one day workshop was to launch the ENACTS products provided by Meteo Rwanda and to introduce the RCSA project to the government and public. This was a transition from the design phase of the project to the implementation phase. The report includes the process of the launch event, presentations made and the main comments by participants

Planning workshop for Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture project

This report presents the outputs of the planning workshop for the Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture Project. The main objective of this planning workshop was to engage key partners in project planning, revise the project’s specific activities, revise the timeline and work-plan for all implementation and monitoring and evaluation activities for the first year of the project. This workshop brought together all project implementation team members, and key partners such as Twigire muhinzi through which the services will be disseminated to farmers as the biggest stakeholders of the project. The implementing team was drawn from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the University of Reading (UR), International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) and Rwanda Meteorological Agency (Meteo-Rwanda). The two days planning meeting came up with an activity plan for all the four outcomes of the project, with responsible institutions and key partners for implementation. The report includes the process of the workshop, brief summary on presentations made, and the key summary and action points from the meeting