The rise of an organic market in Addis Ababa

The demand for organic products, mainly vegetables, is increasing in the Addis Ababa Market. As the market grows, fulfilling the demand is becoming a challenge for smallholder organic farmers and few private farms which are striving to meet consumers' demands. Another challenge for organic vegetables producers and consumers is the lack of proper market linkages. The widely used market outlets for organic vegetables in and around Addis are (i) few youth purchasing vegetables from smallholder farmers and other private farms for basket delivery to consumers (ii) basket delivery scheme by few private farms (iii) bi-monthly organic vegetables market day in Addis managed by organised smallholder farmers.

Despite the motivating starts, there is an unproportioned growth in the marked demand and the production of organic vegetables. The amount of organic vegetables the farmers bring to the organic market in Addis is so small that there are times the consumers didn’t get vegetables left at all – unless they come early. It only takes a few hours for farmers to finish selling their organic vegetables. This is a clear indicator that more producers are needed to meet the market demands.

Farmers use local measures for vegetables like Swiss Chard and Lettuce instead of metric measurements (gram, Kilogram) which is a similar practice in the city’s largest vegetable market. For vegetables like carrots, onion, beetroot, potato, green beans, etc.; they use metric measurements. Price they received per local measure and/or per Kg of vegetables is 20-30% higher than the local market –price of conventionally grown vegetables.

Smallholders farmer at the organic market place in Addis Ababa; Credit PAN-Ethiopia.

Basket delivery is another scheme which seems a potential area to expand the organic market. An organic horticulture project supported by a Swiss-based NGO called Green Flower Foundation started a basket delivery about a year ago and its customers in Addis are increasing from time to time. They created a WhatsApp account to send out a list of vegetables that can be added to the basket so that consumers can put their orders and physical addresses for delivery. The platform has now over 70 members and they receive the delivery once a week.

Basket of vegetables ready for delivery; Credit, GFF.

Comments

Urban Agriculture in Addis Ababa

Urban agriculture in Addis Ababa is contributing a lot to food supply in the city. The city sources most of the vegetables from urban farmers and farmers in the peri-urban areas. Urban farmers in Addis produce vegetables for home consumption and as a source of income for their families. There are also urban agriculture practitioners who grow vegetables only for home consumption. Mr Yilma Bizuneh is one of the urban agriculture implementers who grows different vegetable types for home consumption. When asked about his experience in vegetable production, he said that he used to grow a few vegetables in pots. His backyard was open only to grow grass and weeds, especially during the rainy season. He started growing vegetables in his backyard after the wide-ranging promotions of home gardening by the city administration. Mr Yilma is now sourcing vegetables for his family consumption from his backyard. He adds compostable household wastes in the backyard to decompose there. The added bi...

The charismatic farmer who made me feel that my college education was null and void

It was November 2016, the spring, the season every part of Ethiopia blossoms with flowers from wild plants, shining beauty from a mosaic of smallholder plots planted with different crop types and varieties of the same crop species and the greenery across the different landscapes and Agro-ecological zones. A team of experts of Agro-ecology from all over Africa came to Ethiopia to take part in the “Community Seed Knowledge” workshop organised by African Biodiversity Network (ABN) and the Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD). The workshop was held in Dessie, a city located 400 km North East of the Ethiopian capital – Addis Ababa. On the day we drove to Dessie; we stopped in a small village in Harbu district of South Wollo Zone, one of the sorghum growing areas, and met smallholder farmers who have been involved in community seed bank project run by Ethio Organic Seed Action – an NGO working to save indigenous seeds. As we stopped by the roadside and got off our bus; the farme...

Exchange visit: an effective way to learn from practical experiences of organic farmers

When properly managed and wisely used; exchange visits are key for sharing knowledge, experience, and good practices. Ecological Organic Agriculture is a knowledge intensive agricultural process in which farmers, extension officers, students and other practitioners can learn from each other as the process is going. Farmer to farmer, farmers to extension agents, farmers to students and vice versa, exchanges can help improve small producers’ technical and organisational capacities. It provides opportunities to learn from each other, customise, and adopt successful farming practices and techniques. In November 2020, the Institute for Sustainable Development ( https://www.isd-bio.org/ ), Green Flower Foundation ( https://greenflowerfoundation.org/ ) and Pesticide Action Nexus-Ethiopia brought together organic vegetable grower farmers, extension agents, organic horticulture students and instructors in a learning exchange to share experiences and practices that can help each...

agroecologyservices.net

Search This Blog