The ascendancy of the smallholder driven agriculture model in Ethiopia today isn’t working.  Not for the nation’s food requirements.  Not for exports.  Not even for the smallholders themselves who are in point of fact one of the most vulnerable demographics when inevitable drought followed by food shortages comes around. 

An Urgent Debate

For some in Ethiopia, this particular topic may be taboo because of the political weight that it may carry.  After all, more Ethiopians by far are engaged in smallholder farming (80% of work force) than all other professions put together.  It should therefore not come as a surprise that hackles might be raised at any suggestion of a review of smallholder farming in Ethiopia.  But this is a debate that must be had because it isn’t simply about farmers but about what is right for an entire nation which has lived under the dark cloud of chronic food insecurity for as long as many of its citizens can remember.  Neither should there be an automatic assumption that any such debate threatens the livelihoods or the well being of the smallholder in Ethiopia.  In fact, no proposed solution could even be considered workable unless it aspired to achieve precisely the opposite. 

Instead, this issue must be considered within the context of a national strategy that seeks to produce a quantum leap forward in leveraging Ethiopia’s enormous agricultural potential to not only eradicate food insecurity completely but also act as the primary driver of economic growth in the country for the foreseeable future. 

Indeed the government’s current economic growth strategy as espoused in its Agricultural Development Led Industrialization (ADLI) framework proposes to do exactly that.  But it is a strategy that is inherently centered around “commercialization of smallholder agriculture” which although an admirable concept has not produced the desired results thus far.  In fact, there are fundamental challenges with this model that suggest it cannot do so in an acceptable timeframe.  Meanwhile, burgeoning population growth, increasingly volatile climatic variation and stagnant agricultural productivity continues to place millions of Ethiopians at risk of food insecurity year in and year out.  Hence the urgency of this debate in the hopes that it can produce a revised strategy for the accelerated growth of Ethiopia’s agriculture sector. 

Inherent Challenges Of Smallholder Farming

© Binyam Mengesha

But, while government and development assistance can go some way towards addressing some of the challenges smallholders face, it is less able to do so in the provision of assistance for irrigation schemes and light mechanization due to the tremendous costs that would be involved in doing so. Irrigation in particular, is especially critical for surviving the cyclical drought common in the country.  Cooperatives have been touted as a way of overcoming many of these obstacles and while these constructs may offer some hope for doing so, they are generally not a very efficient model and still lack the sufficient capacity to make the kinds of investments that the sector demands at the moment. 

Cultural  attributes which do not promote a strong work ethic have also hampered smallholder productivity in some measure. Many of them demonstrate strong resistance to switching at least part of their output to cash crops from the subsistence crops they are normally focused on because there is such a strong identification of farming with their own survival needs.  Finally, smallholder farms are so small (generally 1-2 hectares) that once a farmer has tilled his land and sown seeds, there is not much for him or her to do besides occasional weeding, until harvest season comes around. 

Medium And Large Scale Commercialization As A Jumpstart

ADLI actually has provisions within it for large scale commercial farming.  Many significant infrastructural investments by the government (roads, rural electrification, etc.) are in fact tied into this strategy of opening up new areas for such farming and linking them to markets for their goods.  But other elements of critical need for expanding commercial agriculture – such as access to capital particularly where Ethiopian investors/entrepreneurs are concerned – have not been focused on very much. 

Genesis Farms in Debre Zeit

In some quarters, ‘commercialization’ in agriculture is a dirty word and large, multinational corporations are probably not the best ambassadors for it.  Still, there are clear benefits that this model can provide as can be easily demonstrated as in the example of  Brazil which is certainly one of the agricultural powerhouses of the world and is the 6^th largest economy based largely on its agribusiness sector.  But commercialization isn’t by itself the panacea we seek.  It has problems of its own just like smallholder farming does.  It certainly is not the best way to preserve the biodiversity which gives Ethiopia such unique characteristics.  Nor is it likely to ensure that the benefits of Ethiopian agriculture are distributed in anything like a fair manner amongst those involved in the sector.  However, it is almost certainly the best and fastest way  by which to bring sizable amounts of investment in a scalable, market oriented model to the Ethiopian agriculture sector.  As such, it must be an integral and important element in an overall framework for the country in the interests of making the fastest possible progress towards eliminating food insecurity in Ethiopia. 

The Best Of Both Worlds?

So the central challenge that we face as a nation is how to combine these models to reap the maximum benefit from our fertile lands, preserve our natural riches such as biodiversity while ensuring that our smallholders aren’t left behind in the wake of commercialization.  The answer may lie in building an integrated model that builds on smaller, commercial farms supplementing their own production with smallholders acting as outgrowers in exchange for technical and financial input from the commercial operatives.  Commercially based cooperatives so to speak.  In fact, many commercial operators are very willing to do this but have been hampered by smallholders who are frequently suspicious of and in many cases feel threatened by them.  But there are some examples where this integrated model has been shown to be very effective and could be the blueprints on which a national strategy could be formulated.  A successful model of commercial cooperatives could provide Ethiopia with the fastest path out of her chronic food insecurity while keeping most of the actors in the agriculture sector happy.   

Comments (5)

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written by desta , September 18, 2009

Ethiopian farmers do not have the resources to become commercial farmers and with restrictive land policies it is unlikely the out-dated mode of farming be replaced with modern mechanized one for commercial farming to exist and flourish.
for commercial farms to exist private ownership of land must be allowed.those with the means can be good example for small traditional farmers by spreading the benefits of commercial & mechanized farming.right now ,any topic to do with privatization of land is politicized,hence no genuine measures are taken to resolve Ethiopia's food security problem.

RE:...
written by Melaku Sahlu , September 18, 2009

While I don't think the current system of land tenure is ideal, from traveling to some parts of the country and speaking with current as well as prospective investors, it does not seem to be a big concern for many. I think, if you're getting an 80 year (or even 40) lease on a plot of land, the question of ownership vs. leasing for a farm is not a critical part of the equation.
In fact, the most common complaint I hear from smaller investors who are trying to make something happen in agriculture, relates to smallholders. These complaints say that small farmers are usually hostile to them, will steal their crops and squat on land granted to the investors (land that the smallholders never claimed previously). This is compounded by lack of enforcement (especially by the regional authorities) in rural areas.

a much needed discussion
written by X , September 23, 2009

The tplf agricultural strategy has failed long ago. Agricultural policy reform is needed. In order to rid some farmers from dependency on aid and encourage them, greater investor and government assistance is needed. Commercialization should especially be allowed in areas which are frequented by droughts. The cooperative idea is wise and will maximize output but profits should be shared and some portion must be used to improve capital goods.

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written by nysmk , September 29, 2009

Commercialization does sound good but I have a few questions. What is the effect of imported grains, including aid on the local market? Secondly, what is to happen to the smallholders once commercialization takes effect?

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written by Melaku Sahlu , September 29, 2009

I am not aware of any recent examples where imported grains depress local prices and discourage surplus production although they have of course been known to happen in the past. In fact, some of the major aid organizations have announced that they will first seek to buy grain from domestic markets before resorting to other means.

One of the main things I'm suggesting in the 'integrated model' is that smallholders themselves become beneficiaries of this framework. Besides the direct benefits of assistance with irrigation and use of mechanized equipment, their end products will immediately have additional value due to the stronger market linkages the commercial operator will likely have. If the operator also has processing capabilities, then the incremental value will be even greater. In essence, smallholder farming can in fact work given the right context (Kenya's world leading tea producers are a perfect example), the suggested approach is about trying to balance how we get to a conducive context while at the same time addressing our food security issues as fast as possible.