Value Chain Analysis of Onion in Dugda District, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

The study on onion value chain primarily aimed to identify the actors in the value chain, quantify actors costs and profit margin and identifying constraints and causes of the main problem. The data was generated by mainly desk study from a wide range of secondary sources such as books and journals, internet services using Google and Google scholar and unpublished sources. The study finding shows that onion value chain actors include input suppliers, producers, collectors, farmer-traders, middlemen/brokers, wholesalers, retailers, consumers whereas the identified chain supporters include the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR), Small and Micro Financial Institutions (SMFI), District Irrigation Development Authority (DIDA), Awash Melkasa Agricultural Research Center (AMARC). About five channels of onion marketing were identified and out of five, two market channels (II & III) were found to be dominant in terms of volume of the transaction which accounts 74.2% and 21.2%, respectively. The study also identified the value addition/kg of onion; where central retailers and central wholesalers had the highest share but farmer-trader had the least value. Central retailer obtained the highest profit share (31%) per kg; however, farmer-trader attained the least profit share per kg which is about 19%. The main constraints identified include; price fluctuation, lack of credit availability, scarcity of fertilizers, less availability of inputs, high onion seed cost which is caused by the existence of an oligopolistic market, high involvement of brokers and less awareness of farmers about the market. Recommendation drawn from the study findings necessitate changing the oligopolistic market structure, changing the role of brokers in the market and supporting local onion markets

Structure and Performance of Vegetable Marketing in East Shoa Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Analysis of marketing performance of vegetable plays an important role in an ongoing or future market development plan. The study primarily examines market structure of major actors and assessing the market performance for key vegetable marketing actors and channels by quantifying costs and profit margins. The data was generated by household survey using pre-tested structured questionnaires. This was supplemented by secondary data collected from different published and unpublished sources. The study result shows that the total gross marketing margin was 30% with producer participation margin of 70% implying higher marketing margin of smallholder producers. The market intermediaries incurred different marketing costs such as costs of packing, sorting, transportation, loading and unloading. Central wholesalers obtain relatively highest profit in channel numbered II and III, which amounted to Birr 204,827 and 58,675, respectively. The study result signifies that the first four largest volumes of vegetable purchased by first four big traders (CR4) constitute 50% of market share, which indicates the market structure for vegetable is strongly oligopolistic. OLS regression results also revealed that there are economies of scale for wholesalers at Meki market, which clearly indicates the presence of barrier to entry/exit for wholesalers in the market. Policy implications drawn from the study indicate that changing oligopolistic market structure, capacitating unions to supply inputs and outputs and supporting actors involved in local vegetable markets. Keywords: Vegetable, market structure, market margin, Ordinary Least Square regression

Market Chain Actors and Their Role in Vegetable Market Chain in Dugda Woreda, Ethiopia

The vegetable market chain actors were broadly classified into three categories: input supplier, direct market actors (producers, brokers, farmer traders, wholesalers, retailers and consumers) and enablers (extension service providers and credit providers). The study primarily focused on direct market actors. Vegetable producers sell their products to different market intermediaries and final consumers. About five vegetable marketing channels were identified. The total amount of vegetable that was transacted through these marketing channels in 2014/15 was 32,010 quintals. Channel two was found to be the dominant marketing channel in terms of volume of vegetable supply, where about 23,752 quintals of vegetable (74.2% of the total vegetable) was supplied to the market. Channel three was the second dominant market supplier, where about 6,786 quintals of vegetable (21.2%) supplied through this channel. Some market actors (brokers) were doing all types of businesses in the market chain without any license. Thus, policy implications drawn necessitate legalizing and supporting actors in the local vegetable markets and changing the role of brokers in the market and capacitating unions to supply inputs. Keywords: Vegetable, actor, market chain, market channe