None of them is true as we explain the purpose of our presence as I want to discuss with them their cultivation plans and challenges as part of my research for Agriterra. In addition I am interested in their buyer-seller relationships with the multipurpose primary cooperative and competing independent traders for their supply of grain. For us this focus group discussion is the last in a row of several discussions with members of different multipurpose primary cooperatives. After all, in the last one and a half months we have been travelling by public transport, horse and on foot through the highlands of the Oromia region, Ethiopia to unravel the cultivation and commercialization decisions of its smallholder farmers.
These highlands are considered to be potential areas for malt barley cultivation. However, the share of land assigned to malt barley cultivation by smallholder famers, also locally known as the king of crops, is facing fierce competition from other grains crops as food barley and wheat. Enhanced local malt barley supply is however crucial as the growth for the demand of beer and so malt barley comprises annually +16% and has resulted in a big gap between supply and demand. As a matter of fact the malt factories and breweries have been forced to import nearly 50% of their total annual demand from the European Union. At the moment of visiting the stronghold of the Assela malt factory one month ago they were already unloading Danish malt barley from the just arrived trucks straight from Djibouti port.
Increased competition between breweries as Heineken and Diageo, the Assela malt factory and newly established Gondar malt factory has resulted in a true battle for the commitment and so supply of local malt barley smallholder farmers for upcoming harvesting season. Agriterra and the cooperative union partners of Galema and Raya Kejewa in respectively the Arsi and West-Arsi regions are therefore looking for solutions to get more control on the available and potential supply of malt barley. By conducting interviews with actors at different levels of the supply chain including the Assela malt factory, Ethiopia Seed Enterprise, Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center, cooperative unions and two hundred smallholder farmers I have been trying to get more insights in the current challenges and opportunities within the supply chain. All with the final goal to enhance local malt barley supply and buyer-seller relationships between smallholder farmer members and their multipurpose primary cooperatives.
After completing the data collection phase the time of analyzing has begun. In the upcoming weeks I am planning to present my results to the dedicated Ethiopian team of Agriterra to be able to prepare them well before the new malt barley harvests in December and January will bring the battle for local malt barley supply to a new level.
Nick Persoon, Agriterra MSc. graduate intern, Assela, Ethiopia
