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USAID Year V-Annual Report FY 2021 (October 2020-September 2021) Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity Partnering with the Agricultural Growth Program

Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity

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Page 1: Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity

USAID Year V-Annual Report

FY 2021 (October 2020-September 2021)

Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity Partnering with the Agricultural Growth Program

Page 2: Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity

Feed the Future Ethiopia Annual Report FY2021

CONTENTS

ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................ i

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 1

1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Activity description ........................................................................................................ 3

1.2 Geographic Focus ........................................................................................................... 4

2. VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITIES .................................................................................... 5

2.1 Dairy ................................................................................................................................ 5

Milk Collection Centers ............................................................................................................................................................... 5

Artificial insemination services .................................................................................................................................................. 7

Enhancing smallholder access to dairy feed ......................................................................................................................... 7

Dairy Technology Centers .......................................................................................................................................................... 8

Technical & business support for dairy processors with DFC-supported loans .......................................................... 8

2.2 Meat & Live Animal ........................................................................................................ 9

Capacity building .......................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Strengthening & scaling input supply system ....................................................................................................................... 9

Expanding the use of improved technologies & practices ........................................................................... 10

Strengthening market access & organization of market systems ............................................................................... 10

Live animal price trends .......................................................................................................................................................... 11

Improving access to finance ................................................................................................................................................... 11

2.3 Poultry ........................................................................................................................... 12

Community outreach ................................................................................................................................................................ 12

Marketing .................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Egg collection corners ............................................................................................................................................................... 13

Egg price trends ......................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Pullet price trends ...................................................................................................................................................................... 14

Private sector delivery of poultry services ........................................................................................................................... 14

Fast food services ...................................................................................................................................................................... 15

2.4 Maize .............................................................................................................................. 15

Maize seed production & marketing ................................................................................................................................... 15

Certified seed production & marketing ............................................................................................................................... 16

Business-to-business for direct seed marketing ................................................................................................................ 16

Postharvest mechanization ..................................................................................................................................................... 16

Promoting hermetic storage technology .............................................................................................................................. 16

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Feed the Future Ethiopia Annual Report FY2021

Expanding Spray Service Providers network ...................................................................................................................... 17

Local hybrid varieties ................................................................................................................................................................ 17

2.5 Chickpea ........................................................................................................................ 18

Seed production & marketing ............................................................................................................................................... 18

Hermetic storage technology ................................................................................................................................................. 18

Grain marketing ......................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Promotion of good agricultural practices ............................................................................................................................ 19

Farmers training in chickpea production ............................................................................................................................ 19

Spray service provision ............................................................................................................................................................. 19

2.6 Coffee ............................................................................................................................. 19

Junior professionals cupping training ................................................................................................................................... 20

Marketing intelligence training .............................................................................................................................................. 20

Q Arabica retake training ....................................................................................................................................................... 20

CQI Q Calibration ...................................................................................................................................................................... 21

B2B meetings between coffee suppliers, exporters, and buyers .................................................................................. 21

Coffee drying materials ............................................................................................................................................................ 21

Micro-mill operational training .............................................................................................................................................. 21

Cup of Excellence ...................................................................................................................................................................... 21

Coffee harvesting, quality management, and processing training ............................................................................... 22

Outgrower scheme & market linkage ................................................................................................................................. 22

Coffee exports ............................................................................................................................................................................ 23

Partner activities......................................................................................................................................................................... 23

Coffee nurseries as commercial business ........................................................................................................................... 24

Improved coffee management practices ............................................................................................................................ 24

3. CROSS-CUTTING ................................................................................................... 25

3.1 Capacity building .......................................................................................................... 25

Market Information System (MIS) ....................................................................................................................................... 25

Financial Services Support ...................................................................................................................................................... 25

Financial Forums ........................................................................................................................................................................ 28

Agribusiness training ................................................................................................................................................................. 28

Crop aggregation & storage ................................................................................................................................................... 28

Livestock training ....................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Agrodealers .................................................................................................................................................................................. 30

3.2 Nutrition ........................................................................................................................ 31

Key field achievements ............................................................................................................................................................ 31

Key capacity building achievements ..................................................................................................................................... 32

Page 4: Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity

Feed the Future Ethiopia Annual Report FY2021

Meetings & events .................................................................................................................................................................... 33

Women’s Dietary Diversity Survey ....................................................................................................................................... 33

3.3 Gender & Youth Inclusion ........................................................................................... 34

Gender analysis .......................................................................................................................................................................... 34

Youth analysis ............................................................................................................................................................................. 34

Targeted women’s & youth empowerment interventions .............................................................................................. 35

Gender & youth mainstreaming ............................................................................................................................................ 37

Access to finance ................................................................................................................................................................. 37

3.4 Subawards ..................................................................................................................... 37

Partner performance monitoring survey (PPMS) .............................................................................................................. 38

4. REGIONAL ACTIVITIES ......................................................................................... 39

4.1 Regional Closeout Events ............................................................................................ 39

4.2 Tigray Region ................................................................................................................ 43

5. MONITORING & EVALUATION ........................................................................... 47

5.1 Routine Monitoring ...................................................................................................... 48

5.2 Annual Performance Monitoring Survey ................................................................... 48

Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................................... 48

Key Results .................................................................................................................................................................................. 49

5.3 Postharvest Loss ........................................................................................................... 51

5.4 Partner Performance Monitoring Survey (PPMS) .................................................... 51

5.5 Learning & Adapting .................................................................................................... 52

Annex I. Performance indicators ................................................................................... 53

Annex II. Success Stories ................................................................................................ 59

Annex III. Subawards ...................................................................................................... 63

Annex IV. Non-Expendable Property ............................................................................ 65

Annex V. Budget .............................................................................................................. 66

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i

ACRONYMS ACC Agricultural Commercialization Cluster AGP II Agricultural Growth Program II ATA Agricultural Transformation Agency AI Artificial Insemination B2B Business-to-Business CIG Common Interest Groups CFSC Commercial Farm Service Center CIRIS Client Impact and Results Information System CLU Coffee Liquoring Unit COP Chief of Party DOCs Day Old Chicks DZARC Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center EAGC East African Grain Council ECTDMA Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Development and Marketing Authority ECX Ethiopian Commodity Exchange EPOSPEA Ethiopian Pulses Oilseeds and Spices Producers and Exporters Association EU European Union FAW Fall Armyworm FCU Farmer Cooperative Union FY Financial Year FTFMS Feed the Future Monitoring System GAPs Good Agricultural Practices GoE Government of Ethiopia GUC Grants Under Contract ICT Information Communication Technology LMD Livestock Marketing Development LMP Livestock Master Plan LOP Life of Project MCC Milk Collection Centers M&E Monitoring & Evaluation MEL Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning MoA Ministry of Agriculture MSME Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises NGOs Non-Government Organizations PERSUAP Pesticide Evaluation Report and Safer Use Action Plan PICs Perdue Improved Crop Storage PPR Performance Plan and Report RAA Required-as-Applicable SNNPR Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region ToT Training of Trainers UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa USAID United States Agency for International Development FTFE VCA Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity

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1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity is a five-year activity (January 2017 – December 2021) funded through USAID as part of the US government’s Feed the Future Initiative and the Government of Ethiopia’s (GoE) Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) II, Component Four: Agriculture Marketing and Value Chains.

This report outlines the activity’s progress in its fifth year of implementation (October 2020 – September 2021). This year, 82,258 direct beneficiaries (43 percent female) participated in FTFE VCA activities, including producers, private sector actors, extension workers, and members of civil society. The cumulative total of direct beneficiaries participating in activities is 364,649 (32 percent female). This achievement represents 122 percent of the life of the project (LoP) target of 300,000 beneficiaries.

The distribution of beneficiaries across value chains in FY2021 shows maize accounting for the greatest share (25 percent) followed by dairy (13 percent). Cumulatively, maize and dairy remain the most significant contributors to the FTFE VCA beneficiary population (32 and 21 percent, respectively).

This reporting year saw a number of external challenges such as COVID-19 and security issues, in particular the conflict in Tigray, an FTFE VCA focus region. FTFE VCA’s team continued to rise to these challenges and was able to continue efforts to provide support to beneficiaries with impressive results. A key example is that, despite the conflict, 16 percent of new beneficiaries reached this year were from Tigray. The team also focused heavily on sustainability as it began to close out activities toward the end of the reporting period. Other notable achievements this fiscal year included:

Partner milk collection centers collected an average of 95,315 liters of milk per day and are on track to reach goal of 100,000 liters of milk per day by the end of the project. This would result in equivalent annual sales of an estimated $18 million per year.

9,271 tons of green coffee was exported to Europe, Japan, and the US, resulting in sales of more than $30.99 million, equivalent to an average price of $3.34/kg.

Total sales of hermetic storage bags exceeded $1.33 million, providing the equivalent of more than 96,604 metric tons of storage capacity for grain.

Ethiopia’s second Cup of Excellence competition was another resounding success. Top-scoring coffee sold at $150 per pound, with the average price for the top 30 coffees at $32.12 per pound. Sales from the COE auction totaled in $1.9 million.

Facilitated market access through community market linkages with poultry retailers and supermarkets in addition to digital marketing initiatives and establishment of egg collection corners, resulted in $2.08 million of poultry and poultry related sales.

1,090 new full-time jobs were created in FY2021, and 3,791 existing FTE jobs continued throughout the year, for a total of 4,881 jobs (36 percent held by females).

FTFE VCA partner unions and seed enterprises purchased or collected more than $3.4 million worth of hybrid maize seed from outgrowers and their own commercial farms.

$2.4 million in livestock sales recorded thanks to market linkages activities such as business to business sessions, complementary field days, and exchange visits to best-practice sites.

FTFE VCA’s focus on strengthening market linkages between feed suppliers and livestock producers generated feed sales of $555,928 by 3,566 farmers in all four VCA regions.

$2.02 million in loans granted by the Development Finance Corporation, and $2.4 million in investment leveraged. Program beneficiaries invested nearly $4 million of their own funds in production, marketing, and processing improvements and technologies.

Page 7: Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity

ETHIOPIA VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITY FY2021

PROJECT BENEFICIARIES

GROSS MARGIN

YIELD OF TARGETEDAGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES

ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS

The percentage of women consuming a diet of minimum diversity more than doubled since FTFE VCA

began, increasing from 31% at baseline to 72% as of FY2021.

15 agribusinesses accessed more than $2.48 million in

financing through the Development Finance

Corporation and other sources.

As a result of FTFE VCA, the private sector invested more than $6.4 million

in support of nutrition and food security.

4,881 jobs were created with the help of FTFE VCA,

1,090 of which werenew as of FY2021.

FTFE VCA assisted in the export of more than $30 million worth of coffee and $6.5 million worth of live animals.

The Cup of Excellence competition generated more than

$1.96 million in sales,at an average price of $59/kg.

FTFE VCA partners generated $54 million in sales during FY2021.

42% increaseover FY2020

12% increaseover FY2020

18% increaseover FY2020

18% increaseover FY2020

Chickpea Coffee Maize Milk

67% increaseover FY2020

32% increaseover FY2020

21% increaseover FY2020

50% increaseover FY2020

Chickpea Maize Goat Sheep

Male Female

KEY

Target

Amhara Oromia SNNP Tigray TOTAL0

400,000

200,000

300,000

100,000

350,000

250,000

150,000

50,000 116,087 females

248,562 males

364,649total beneficiaries

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1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity (VCA) is part of the US government’s Feed the Future Initiative and the Government of Ethiopia’s (GoE) Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) II, Component Four: Agricultural Marketing and Value Chains. Under AGP II, VCA is contributing to the GoE’s objective of improving agricultural productivity and the commercialization of smallholder farmers through an inclusive value chain and market systems development strategy that integrates nutrition-sensitive interventions, climate-smart agriculture, and USAID/Ethiopia’s push-pull strategy.

The activity’s goal is to reach at least 300,000 rural farmers with improved technologies and prioritizes work across select AGP II value chains (maize, coffee, chickpea, dairy, livestock, and poultry) in Oromia, SNNPR, Amhara, and Tigray. The VCA approach emphasizes collaboration at all levels, from strengthening commercial relationships between smallholder farmers and agribusinesses to building consensus and action around key constraints to enhance value chain efficiency and induce growth. The strategy mainstreams nutrition, gender, and youth to ensure transformative change and monitors progress from baseline to quantifiably report on impact. It is underpinned by high-quality technical assistance, strategic use of subawards tied to field demonstrations and training, and a rigorous program of field-based support and monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Activities are implemented in collaboration with partners and stakeholders in targeted woredas and selected kebeles.

Figure 1: Cumulative number of direct beneficiaries

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1.2 GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS

The activity is working in four regional offices (Amhara, Tigray, Oromia, and SNNP) and two satellite offices (Mizan and Jimma) in 116 woredas.

Figure 2: Geographic focus areas

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2. VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITIES FTFE VCA works to increase the potential of select value chains to increase productivity, reduce poverty, withstand shocks, and improve incomes and nutrition. The activity targets six key value chains: maize, coffee, chickpea, dairy, meat and live animals, and poultry. It also supports connections between the value chains such as fodder production, input supply networks, and access to credit services.

2.1 DAIRY

FTFE VCA’s interventions across the dairy value chain have focused on private-sector initiatives with cold chain development, AI service, facilitating market linkages between livestock feed processors unions and milk collection centers. A total of 11,082 new beneficiaries (3,698 female) were reached in the reporting year. This brings the cumulative total of dairy beneficiaries to 75,680 (37.7 percent female).

Milk Collection Centers

Since the installation of a cleaning system for the 96 cold chain facilities concluded in 2019, VCA has been providing continuous technical assistance to staff at the various MCC sites, mobilizing potential dairy producers around the collection centers, and providing materials to upgrade infrastructure and hygiene conditions. Market assistance has been a core parallel support mechanism with B2B linkages to processors, milk price information, and on-site skills training on product development, business management, and quality control procedures.

However, the subsequent status of commercial operations and use of chillers is mixed, as shown in Table 1. In total 64 percent of the MCCs are using refrigerated systems however, more detailed site evaluations show that only 23 percent of the total sites are using chillers year-round; while 41 percent use the chiller seasonally. The residual 36 percent of MCCs are still not using the chiller due to shortage of adequate milk supply, lack of finance for working capital, lack of electric power and water. Furthermore, unhealthy competition with informal milk buyers is another major reason for not using the chillers.

Table 1: MCCs use of cold chain facilities

Region # Chillers Achieved

engineering functionality

Use chiller year-round

Use chiller seasonally

Chiller not in use

Amhara 30 30 14 8 8 Oromia 32 32 8 15 9 SNNP 20 20 0 12 8 Tigray 14 14 0 4 10 Total 96 96 22 39 35

Issues regarding non-operating cold chain MCCs was the focus discussion in a series of regional workshops held during July and August 2021 in SNNP and Amhara, where the biggest concentration of these sites are located. The status of each MCC, as well as problems faced were presented in detail to define pragmatic next steps. For example, in the case of a cluster of seven MCCs in the Gondar zone, the delay in commissioning the dairy processing plant at Jantekel Union is the major contributory factor. The cluster

Milk Collection Center in Oromia

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of six MCCs in Gurage and Gaze Gofa zones of SNNP is due to a disappointing mix of weak management structures and a lack of commitment to selected market opportunities. In both of these cluster examples, insufficient follow-up from cooperative unions and regional livestock agencies has been a significant factor, however promises of more effective remedial action in 2022 provide some optimism for improvement.

The trend of improvement in the operational functionality of MCCs is encouraging when measured by the simple metric of the total volume of fresh milk delivered by dairy farmers to collection centers. Regular and reliable data collection on the volume of milk procured from farmers and milk sales is essential. Using data gathered from 41 well-managed MCC sites is providing valuable insight into the overall commercial profitability of the smallholder-based milk supply situation. The inclusion of 13 sites in Amhara, 17 in Oromia, and 11 in SNNP provides a realistic national picture of the growth prospects for the investment in bulk milk supply. The resulting total value of fresh milk and dairy product sales over 12 months was $8.63 million (ETB 343,061,809) (Figures 3 & 4).

In June 2021, VCA contracted a dairy consultant to conduct a supplementary site-based study focused on the commercial performance and business sustainability of 60 MCCs. The volume of milk collected by these MCCs, representing the bulk of fully operational sites, reached 95,315 liters/day as a result of their co-investment with USAID. This result is close to the target set by VCA to reach an aggregated volume of 100,000 liters per day through the collection center network by the end of 2021; equivalent to annual sales of an estimated $18 million (ETB 834,959,400) a year based on an average price of ETB 24/liter.

Milk volume is a blunt instrument for measuring MCC performance. Perhaps just as important are the parameters of milk quality, supply consistency, reliability, and food safety. Improvement in milk quality is receiving more attention from both society and government because of increasing concerns related to foodborne diseases and adulteration of milk with water and potentially harmful additives. Two opposing forces characterize intense competition between dairy processors for limited milk supply: one negative choice is the tendency to take shortcuts and gain an unfair advantage; while the other positive choice is a long-term downstream investment with producers and building brand confidence in the market. VCA support has strengthened the basic disciplines involved with a quality assurance system (Table 2.)

127,789,084

182,491,545

32,781,180

- 20,000,000 40,000,000 60,000,000 80,000,000

100,000,000 120,000,000 140,000,000 160,000,000 180,000,000 200,000,000

Amhara Oromia SNNPR

7,493,562

8,697,723

910,695

-

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

8,000,000

9,000,000

10,000,000

Amhara Oromia SNNPR

Figure 3: Volume of milk collected by MCCs in FY 2021

Figure 4: Sales value of milk collected in FY 2021

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Table 2: Impact on milk quality measured by the number of sites adopting best practice MCC

Practices Amhara Oromia SNNP Tigray Overall

Before After Before After Before After Before After Before After Improved milk transporting containers

11 21 7 22 2 11 2 3 22 57

Quality testing procedures 15 22 14 22 4 9 2 3 35 56

Quality-based payment system 10 12 2 9 1 2 2 3 15 26

Artificial insemination services

FTFE VCA is collaborating with two private veterinary clinics in Amhara to enhance AI service delivery through the provision of basic equipment and covering part of the cost of promotional services through field days and training events. This partnership was completed in September 2021, and the general performance of deliverables from the respective business is indicated in Figure 5. The commercial results are providing accurate and objective data to evaluate the sustainability of private sector service providers that compete with subsidized government facilities.

The AI service providers generated an income of $36,962 (ETB 1,663,300) and a total of 5,455 farming households benefited from the service. The investment process in improved genetics involves a long-term payback for farmers, as illustrated with projections arising from the AI services partnerships.

Pregnancy diagnoses were performed on 2,715 cows.

1,942 of these cows were positive – leading to a conception rate of 71.5 percent.

Assuming a pregnancy loss of 15 percent from health issues such as fetal abortion and health, it is projected that 1,650 calves will survive.

Assuming 45 percent of these calves would be females, there will be 742 heifers of improved breeds coming into milk during 2022 - 2024.

Enhancing smallholder access to dairy feed

Dairy feed is an important input for the sector and represents about 70 percent of the total operation cost. Dairy producers are constrained by a lack of access to high-quality dairy feed with reasonable prices at nearby markets. To deal with this impediment strategically and sustainability, VCA has established feed distribution hubs, primarily focused on milk collection centers.

FTFE VCA support for regular linkage between dairy producers and feed processors resulted in sales of 24,391 quintals of dairy feed worth $945,591 (ETB 39,906,364), impacting more than 8,562 smallholder dairy farmers. Figures 6 and 7 show the quantity of dairy feed supplied and dairy price increases in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP for the reporting period.

2700 2700

1890

27003328

2715

1942

4410

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Cowinseminated

Pregnancydiagnosis

performed

Confirmedpregnancy

Veternay casetreated

Total Target Total achievement

Figure 3: AI partnership outputs

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The increase in the price of feed from quarter two to three was 17.5 percent, 21.0 percent, and 28.0 percent for Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP, respectively. Similarly, the percentage price increase between quarter three and four is 5.0 percent, 9.5 percent, and 12.5 percent for Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP, respectively.

Dairy Technology Centers

The network of small-scale demonstration sites located in rural communities has proven to be a successful way to create awareness and tangible experience, benefits have included:

Milking machines, milk churners, cream separators, milk cans, milk quality equipment.

Forage production including Alfalfa, Desho, and Napier grass, hay baling, silage making.

By-product utilization such as maize stalks, molasses, oilseed cake.

Results from these efforts include:

79 hectares of land covered with different types of forage species.

620 tons of crop residue were chopped and treated with molasses by 32 farmers in Oromia.

55 tons of crop residues were chopped by 31 farmers in SNNP and Amhara.

32 DTC beneficiaries in Oromia produced 1.3 tons of Bokashi (EM treated wheat bran).

111 dairy farmers in Oromia made more than 707 tons of silage, using the feed choppers.

24 farmers in Oromia produced 8,400 bales of grass hay.

Manual and electrical milk churners reduce the time taken to process raw milk from 2 hours to 30 minutes; significantly reducing the workload of women, who are traditionally responsible for milk churning.

Technical & business support for dairy processors with DFC-supported loans

LM Quality Management was contracted to provide technical assistance to 13 small- and medium-scale dairy processors in different parts of the country. The majority of these processors benefitted from bank loans facilitated under the USAID Development Finance Corporation guarantee scheme. The purpose of the subcontract was to improve the business sustainability and support vertical integration activities that strengthen market relationships to adopt a more commercial approach to dairy farming.

LM Quality Management conducted assessments of each business and identified gaps and areas that need intervention. These assessments included recommendations of missing spare parts for processors whose facilities were not optimally working, as well as on-site skills training in preventative maintenance of

9,564 8,4986,329

24,391

-

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

Quarter II Quarter III Quarter IV Total

Figure 7: Dairy feed supply (qtl) Figure 6: Changes in feed price (ETB /QTL)

1516 1548 1531

17811873 19601874

20502200

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Amhara Oromia SNNPRQuarter II Quarter III Quarter IV

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equipment. The team of technical experts developed standard operational procedures relevant to each of the processors and provided practical training to 49 (23 female) selected staff in the areas of supply management, product diversification, and fundamental principles of business management.

2.2 MEAT & LIVE ANIMAL

Capacity building

FTFE VCA is providing various trainings including good husbandry practices (GHP), business management and marketing in feedlot operation, demonstration of best practices such as improved feeding facilities. During the reporting year, 7,300 new beneficiaries (3,592 female) were reached, on top of continued technical assistance provided to existing clients. The majority of these clients are small ruminant producers in SNNP and training was provided by VCA partner Temesgen Rettibo Integrated Farm (TRIF). This brings the total number of direct MLA beneficiaries to 44,000, which is 97.8 percent of the LOP target. The gender target has been exceeded as a result of women-focused support for small ruminant producers through the Technology Fund.

A rapid assessment to document the impact of various capacity-building activities shows that 57 percent of MLA beneficiaries started their business because of their participation in FTFE VCA field days and training events. Furthermore, 42.8 percent copied selected technologies observed during these events. The most widely adopted technology is compound feed and improved feeding-management practices.

Strengthening & scaling input supply system

Feed hub establishment and sales. Feed is a critical input in livestock production, especially for commercial-oriented systems, as it needs to be secured from outside of the farm. In the majority of cases, compound feed is available in major cities and is not easily accessible for businesses located in distant locations. FTFE VCA launched the establishment of feed hubs in areas where most livestock beneficiaries are located. A cost-share system was used and nine feed hubs were established in Amhara this year.

The focus on strengthening market linkages between feeds suppliers and livestock producers generated feed sales of $555,928 (ETB 25,016,782) as detailed in Table 3. Key sales mechanisms included technical support to feed processors on targeted product promotion and simultaneous engagement with agrodealers in strategic locations. Through market facilitation, feed processors sold 19,440 quintals of feed to 3,566 farmers in the four regions. The bulk of these sales were with ruminant producers purchasing small quantities of compound feed as a supplement rather than as a whole diet for fattening.

Table 3: Feed purchased by farmers in the reporting year

Region Number of producers Male Female

Quantity of feed purchased (quintal)

Value of feeds purchased ETB

Amhara 180 151 29 11,028 13,406,682

Oromia 350 280 70 5,940 7,840,800

SNNP 2,836 1,983 853 2,072 3,029,300

Tigray 200 120 80 400 740,000

Total 3,566 2,534 1,032 19,440 25,016,782

FTFE VCA technology support in Amhara

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Feed price. The price of feed across regions ranged from ETB 1,215 to 1,850 per quintal, and the average across the four regions was ETB 1,532/quintal.

As depicted in Figure 8, the price of compound feed used for fattening cattle, sheep and goats have fluctuated during the reporting period with the highest feed price recorded in Quarter 3 (April to June). This quarter is usually characterized by the highest sales of live animals that creates extra demand for feed, which factors into increased feed prices.

Expanding the use of improved technologies & practices

The MLA team has been heavily engaged in the procurement and distribution of 18 different technology items to 272 (95 female) beneficiaries. Technology materials procured and distributed include motorized and manual choppers, molasses block press, different models of feeding trough (made of metal, wood, bamboo), molasses transport barrels, weighing scales, heart girth meter, canvas, lambing box, pallets, and feed. These materials are increasing the efficiency of feed utilization, decreasing waste, upgrading management practices and records, sustaining animal health, and ultimately improving the productivity and quality of livestock products within a safe environment for both the animals and workers.

The number of female beneficiaries in the MLA value chain surpassed the project target of 30 percent to reach 35 percent. As shown in Table 4, this is due to Technology Funds that emphasized sheep and goat producers, which favored women using simple appropriate equipment designed for small-scale operations.

Table 4: Technology Fund model farmers selected for support Region Male Female Shoat Cattle Total Amhara 49 17 51 15 66 Oromia 59 29 45 43 88 SNNP 49 34 55 28 83 Tigray 20 15 21 14 35 Total 177 95 172 100 272

Strengthening market access & organization of market systems

Providing timely market linkages to local wholesale markets and key buyers is a consistent theme running alongside all field activities involving cattle fatteners and shoat producers. Regular B2B sessions between

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Amhara Oromia SNNP

Figure 4: Change in feed price (ETB/Qtl) during the reporting period

Feeding trough provided by FTFE VCA

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producers, feedlot operators, buyers, and exporters were supported with complementary field days and exchange visits to best-practice sites, resulting in total sales of $2.4 million (ETB 108,708,299).

Table 5: Regional breakdown of livestock sales

Region Sheep & Goat Cattle

Total Value ETB # of animal

Sale value ETB

# of animal Sale value ETB

Amhara 1,157 4,825,500 2,288 58,942,569 63,768,069

Oromia 7,707 18,990,050 636 21,290,750 40,280,800

SNNP 360 1,424,630 80 1,514,100 2,938,730

Tigray 330 1,106,700 30 614,000 1,720,700

Total 9,554 26,346,880 3,034 82,361,419 108,708,299

Live animal price trends

The price of cattle fluctuated during the year, with the highest price recorded for Amhara in quarter 3, which coincides with the Easter holidays. The increasing cattle price in SNNP through the year comes off a very low base price, reflecting the young age and weight of the cattle offered for sale. The national trends in sheep and goat prices show more regional variation based on seasonality of grazing availability and traditional sales periods (Figures 9 & 10).

Improving access to finance

During the year, five MLA actors in Amhara and Oromia accessed loans from local banking institutions that amounted to ETB 20.8 million ETB through the Development Finance Corporation loan-guarantee mechanism. These businesses were supported with a package of in-business plan development, site visits, technical advice, and market linkage.

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

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Figure 9: Cattle price ETB/animal Figure 10: Sheep/Goat price ETB/animal

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2.3 POULTRY

Community outreach

VCA’s poultry value chain activity has reached a cumulative of 20,663 clients across all regions. The overall breakdown of 50 percent women and 34 percent youth is very encouraging and well ahead of LoP targets.

The proportion of female beneficiaries is highest in Tigray and SNNP, with 64 and 56 percent respectively. Most of the beneficiaries in Amhara and Oromia are commercial producers with relatively higher flock sizes. The resulting higher proportion of male beneficiaries reflects the unfair advantage in terms of securing land, capital, and control of sales revenue. The levels of youth participation are similar in Amhara (35 percent) and Oromia (36 percent), but lower in SNNP (27 percent). The higher number of regional beneficiaries in Oromia is because VCA operates in five woredas that are historically better developed within the poultry value chain, with the main commercial cluster in Debrezeit.

The package of extension support coordinated by FTFE VCA staff across 3,292 farmers (46 percent female) includes improved husbandry practices and biosecurity, business management and recordkeeping, field day demonstrations, B2B meetings, and introduction of appropriate technologies. In addition to the technical training, VCA distributed 10,000 copies of poultry health and feeding manuals to different poultry value chain actors, including the Ministry of Agriculture.

These interventions encouraged 130 entrepreneurs to start up new poultry businesses, among the wider group of 300 farmers adopting new technologies and practices. 86 percent of improved feed management practices are being implemented by VCA beneficiaries which reflects the reality that concentrate feed is more than 75 percent of total production cost.

Marketing

FTFE VCA facilitated market access through community market linkages with poultry retailers and supermarkets, digital marketing initiatives, egg collection corners where commercial egg producers are linked to regional wholesale markets, and agrodealers interfacing with local consumers. The resulting sales totaled more than $2 million (ETB 93,985,443) worth of poultry and poultry products in the Oromia, Amhara, and SNNP.

Table 6: Breakdown of Poultry products marketed during the year

Region Eggs Pullets Live Broilers Broiler meat

Quantity Values ETB

Quantity (#)

Value ETB

Quantity (#)

Value ETB

Quantity (kg)

Values ETB

Oromia 2,487,692 13,350,775 71,757 8,363,690 15,539 1,413,050 8,909 1,272,239 Amhara 4,475,455 26,198,055 155,853 24,497,477 9,532 2,316,625 5,473 770,925 SNNP 1,398,080 7,542,004 102,273 8,260,603 - - - - Total 8,361,227 47,090,834 329,883 41,121,770 25,071 3,729,675 14,382 2,043,164

Egg sales in Amhara were twice that in Oromia and three times more than SNNP. A digital marketing tool played a role in networking and market linkage and enhanced sales data collection. In the three regions,

2,292 2,4742,047

3,486

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Figure 5: Poultry beneficiary breakdown (cumulative)

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429 active participants have joined the group and are using the platform effectively. Producers share problems in feed and emerging diseases to get advice from experts or producers with similar experiences.

Details of the contribution of the digital marketing platform are presented below.

9,440 pullets sold online for $40,711 (ETB 1,832,000).

Small and medium commercial poultry producers connected to local Alema and Okay feed agents, resulting in the purchase of 250 quintals of layers and growers feed, worth $13,611 (612,500 ETB).

Twenty-four poultry producers linked to shops for purchase of various veterinary drugs worth $698 (31,410 ETB).

A local veterinarian in Ejere, Oromia was linked to a veterinary equipment supplier in Addis Ababa and purchased equipment and reagents worth $1,743 (78,446 ETB).

Egg collection corners

Intermediaries such as brokers usually take the lion’s share of the profit (normally around 30 percent) in the egg trade. Brokers set prices without consulting producers and have an upper hand in the marketing business. To address this problem and create a formal relationship between buyers and sellers, VCA initiated 18 egg collection corners in cluster areas through a co-financing model in three regions with 305 registered members. This infrastructure is helping producer groups reduce transaction costs, decrease loss through breakage and benefit the producer and consumers in terms of delivering safe products, and encourage production for a guaranteed market. Most of the corners have started collecting membership fees and some are obtaining legal licenses. The business plan includes other services such as feed supply, renting pullet transport crates, and de-beaking services.

The egg centers are a new initiative and sales data is only just beginning to trickle in. Early results from SNNP for five centers are encouraging, with a total of 186,720 eggs collected and sold for $21,917 (986,277 ETB) to Hawassa, Hossana, and Addis Ababa markets.

Egg price trends

The average price of eggs and pullets vary from time to time due to feed price fluctuation and season. In addition, the underlying trend of significant increases in egg prices across all three regions reflects the general food price inflation within Ethiopia.

Including the Tigray region, the price of eggs during the first quarter of the reporting year was ETB 4.41, however, this price increased to ETB 6.64 /egg in the fourth quarter, which is an increase of 51 percent. The cost of concentrate

Egg collection corner located in SNNP

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Figure 6: Average egg price trend 

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feed for layers increased on average from 1,567 in the first quarter to 2,890 ETB/quintal in the fourth quarter. This extraordinary jump in feed cost by 85 percent has a big impact on the prevailing egg prices.

The aggregated data show egg prices rising by 51 percent, despite a much higher rate of increase in feed prices. Egg producers have absorbed some of the input costs to cushion consumers from the full impact. The profit margin for low-overhead egg producers is still positive at around 20 percent of the sales price (ETB 0.96/egg during the first quarter and ETB 1.13/egg during the fourth quarter). However, investment in laying farms is coming under pressure. The news of large-scale egg businesses closing down in Debrezeit, mainly due to the feed prices and feed shortages, is a clear warning sign to the industry.

Pullet price trends

The regional price analysis shows some surprising differences, such as:

The policy of the SNNP government to maintain government-controlled prices looks increasingly unsustainable and is a major disincentive for investment.

For example, the average price in SNNP of 80 ETB/pullet, is less than half the corresponding price of 157 ETB/pullet in Amhara.

The underlying trend of steadily decreasing pullet prices in SNNP is at odds with the free-market trend of increasing prices in Amhara and Oromia.

The peak prices by region also vary in timing, with Amhara recording the highest price in the last quarter while Oromia recorded the highest price in quarter two.

The general volatility and inconsistency in pullet prices reflect the general instability in poultry production.

This impacts the viability of day-old-chick businesses, which have very substantial embedded infrastructure investment and overheads.

The notorious boom-bust history of the highly competitive short-cycle Ethiopian poultry industry is symptomatic of the critical dependence on feed cost and supply.

Private sector delivery of poultry services

Limitations on the existing public poultry extension systems have been recognized for a long time. To fill the gap, providing the essential services using private-sector animal health professionals has been piloted across the target woredas. In this reporting period, 30 private businesses were identified and supported with different equipment to enable them to provide appropriate services (Table 7). The initial data on outputs/outcomes involving 206 beneficiaries (77 female) is limited to Amhara and SNNP with the following results.

De-beaking services given to 72,376 pullets, generating $3,316 (ETB 149,220) in fees.

The service charge for de-beaking varies depending on the distance, farm location, and whether the service provider uses an electric generator to gather as a power supply, which could reach up to ETB 10 per pullet.

Renting pullet transport crates to 57 beneficiaries generated $2,845 (ETB 128,050) in fees.

152.9

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Figure 7: Pullet price trends

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Table 7: Type and quantity of equipment distributed across regions

Type of equipment Regional distribution of equipment

Amhara Oromia SNNP Tigray Total Automatic de-beaking machine 16 18 14 16 64 Pullet transporting crates 320 360 280 320 1280 Automatic vaccination syringe 34 36 16 12 64 Ice box 16 18 14 16 98

Fast food services

The pilot project involving co-investment with four woman-owned fast food businesses has shown promising results. The provision of roasting ovens by FTFE VCA, matched by investment in food premises, staff, and equipment from the individual business units, generated sales of $2,518 (ETB 113,300)). Unfortunately, the high capital cost of each oven at $2,000 is a barrier to scaling up the initiative. This example shows how the limited local capacity in the manufacture of food processing equipment is constraining opportunities for economic growth.

2.4 MAIZE

VCA’s support in 2021 for maize seed production, mechanization, processing, and distribution of local hybrid varieties reached 20,230 (5,824 female) direct beneficiaries.

Maize seed production & marketing

Partnerships with seed multiplication businesses is a key intervention, which this year resulted in 6,538 MT of raw seed produced; 5,148 MT of cleaned seed sold for $4.42 million dollars (ETB 199,072,370); and more than 415,000 farmers planting seed on roughly 250,000 hectares.

VCA grantee Biniyam Mulat Seed Enterprise collected 176 MT of different varieties (BH-540, BH-546, and BH-661) of maize seed through outgrowers (Table 8). Of the total, 156.3 MT was cleaned, packed, distributed, and sold through a network of primary cooperatives and private agents. Due to the high demand for the variety, the enterprise distributed only 6.25-12.5kg each to 12,500 smallholder maize producers. These certified seeds will cover more than 6,252 hectares of land. The enterprise sold all the varieties to a total value of $162,592 (ETB 7,316,650).

Table 8: Seed processing and marketing by Biniyam Seed Enterprise

S/N Variety Harvested Seed

MT Cleaned Seed

MT Selling Price

ETB/MT Seed Sales

(ETB)

1 BH-540 62.4 59.5 56,000.00 3,332,000 2 BH-660 6.9 5.11 44,000.00 224,950 3 BH-661 106.7 91.7 41,000.00 3,759,700 Total 176.0 156.31 7,316,650

The enterprise paid ETB 70 commission fee per quintal of seed for the 31 primary cooperatives and two private companies who are engaged in seed distribution as per their agreement and generated a total fee of $2,432 (ETB 109,419). In addition, 365 (16 female) outgrower farmers attended a technical training provided by the enterprise on the commercialization of maize seed.

Table 9: Technical participation

S/N Woreda Kebele Participant Farmers

M F T 1 Bure Zuria Adelagat 210 7 217 2 Womberima Wazengis 64 6 70 3 Bahir Dar Zuria Lata 75 3 78 Total 349 16 365

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Certified seed production & marketing

FTFE VCA partner unions and seed enterprises purchased or collected over $3.4 million worth of hybrid maize seed from outgrowers and their own commercial farms.

Guna Union, Avallo, Ayahu Zingini, and Yimam Tessema seed enterprises in Amhara were supported by VCA through shelling machinery and packaging. From their commercial lands as well as 1,426 outgrowers, the enterprise collected over 1,914 MT at a total investment of $577,807 (ETB 26,001,293). 1,481 MT is certified maize seed from outgrowers and the remaining 430 MT was produced from their commercial land. 1,820.7 MT of certified maize seed was then distributed to more than 145,657 smallholders, sufficient for 72,820 hectares of land. The total value of the seed is worth $1.82 million (ETB 82,006,870) and sales commission earnings to the cooperatives and agents were $30,101 (ETB 1,274,499).

Similarly, in Oromia, eight seed enterprises (WAMA, Chafe Buluk, Haregu FCU, Jima FCU, Gibe Debesa, Beki Metu, Limu Inara, and Ano Agro) produced a combined volume of more than 4,448 MT certified hybrid maize seed this year. The maize seed collected from their farms and their outgrower farmers have a total value of $1.63 million (ETB 73,567,750). Seeds from outgrowers are collected with a premium price 15 percent above the market price. Out of the total, 4,282 MT was cleaned and packed, which cover an estimated 171,304 hectares of land.

Business-to-business for direct seed marketing

FTFE VCA supported a business-to-business meeting in Amhara to facilitate direct seed marketing and build a common understanding of the latest developments and opportunities available for seed marketing. Following the workshop, Amhara Seed Enterprise agreed to distribute 583 MT of certified seed with a sales value exceeding $581,011 (ETB 24.6 million) through 29 private agents.

Postharvest mechanization

The distribution of the first batch of 20 maize shellers benefited 11 FCUs, three private seed enterprises, one primary cooperative, and two CIGs in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP. The shelling capacity of these machines is more than 60 quintals/hour. Procurement delays restricted operation toward the end of the main season. Therefore, with the limited period of operation, 10,684 MT (maize seed and grain) was shelled for 1,285 (63 female) farmers.

Amio Engineering Plc provided practical training on the effective use of shellers for beneficiaries in Amhara and Oromia. Thirty-nine technicians and experts were equipped with technical knowledge on machinery operation, maintenance, and management. FTFE VCA has been supporting seed multiplication business with a set of seed processing plants in Amhara and Oromia to enhance the supply of timely, quality-assured, and certified seed in the country. Five seed processing machines were procured and delivered to beneficiaries. Installation of the seed processing plants is already on the way and expected to be completed in January 2022.

Promoting hermetic storage technology

A summary of the three hermetic storage technology (HST) partners’ performance is presented in Table 10. The total value of HST bags sold during the year exceeded $1,331,049 (ETB 61.2 million). The start of commercial market promotion operations by EGAA of the 40,000 bags out of the imported 100,000 bags from Tanzania is a positive development.

Multi crop thresher assembly and maintenance training

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Table 10: HST partner performance No Activities Shayashone HiTEC EGAA Total

1 Trained Extension Agents, woreda experts and lead farmers

172 1,109 1,256 2,537

2 Market promotion 485 307 71 863 3 Village demonstrations 585 297 203 1,085 4 Bag opening event 41 209 103 353 5 Bag tying event 285 83 103 471 6 HST bags sold 869,884 163,500 40,000 1,073,384

FTFE VCA’s September 2021 postharvest loss assessment report indicated the contributions of hermetic technologies in the reduction of postharvest losses. The report revealed that quantitative losses of maize accounted for three percent of the maize produced and more than half of the quantitative losses occurred during the bagging of the grain. Losses declined in all activities except cleaning and transporting to storage. The major contributor to this result was capacity building on postharvest handling and application of hermetic storage technologies; particularly the widely adopted use of PICS bags.

Expanding Spray Service Providers network

VCA’s partnership with CropLife Ethiopia continued its skill-based training program for new Spray Services Providers (SSPs). The combination of training modules on technical spraying and business management involved 165 SSPs and 15 extension experts from target regions. Most of them are working in their respective communities providing crop-spraying services together with advice on pest identification and pesticide selection. The established group of 150-trained SSPs in three regions provided services to 8,250 (846-female) farmers on 8,948 hectares and generated a fee of $5,497 (ETB 247,372). The main challenges were high prices of pesticides, shortage of pesticides during the appropriate period, and lack of credit facilities in all regions.

Due to security issues at the time of training, SSPs in Gimbo and Yeki woredas were not officially linked with their communities. Therefore, these SSPs were introduced with farmers, development agents, experts, and management teams. Accordingly, the activity conducted a field base practical training and promotion of SSPs to 1,040 (427 female) smallholder maize producers, SSPs, development agents, and zone and woreda crop protection experts at Kaffa and Sheka zone. In addition, general follow-up and technical support was provided for 13 SSPs in each woreda. A closeout workshop was also organized to conclude and hand over the SSP program in the three regions.

Local hybrid varieties

FTFE VCA supported a range of private sector seed companies to increase the availability of maize seed varieties through demonstration, production, and marketing of BH546 and BH549 local hybrids. Early harvest results of seed crops are encouraging.

A network of 287 (14 female) lead farmers conducted demonstrations across three regions and included the participation of the Bureau of Agriculture experts and farmer’s primary experts and farmers’ primary cooperatives/unions to encourage direct seed marketing and strengthen seed production. Thus far, crop performance is good with consistent application of recommended best practices by lead farmers. Sixteen field day events were organized to equip local fellow farmers with skills and knowledge on principles of good agricultural practices on maize production, which includes, optimum spacing, proper fertilizer use, crop protection, and other agronomic practices. Other components of GAP, identification and effective management of FAW pests, and others were addressed. A total of 3,581 participants attended these field days, as detailed in Table 11.

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Table 11: Maize field day participants Region Farmers Extension staff Total

M F M F

Oromia 608 311 304 29 1,252

Amhara 728 284 65 1 1,078 SNNP 914 295 41 1 1,251 Total 2,250 890 410 31 3,581

An additional 26 lead farmers, DAs, and other woreda and zone experts were trained on GAPs to promote and popularize these new maize varieties through establishing demonstration and follow up field-level promotion. FTFE VCA coordinated the training event and Debre Markos Research Center provided 200 kg of BH549, and lead farmers contributed 32 quintals of NPS and urea. Agronomists from woreda and kebele extension agencies will follow up and provide ongoing extension support.

2.5 CHICKPEA

The chickpea value chain reached11,078 (3,138 female) beneficiaries in Amhara and Oromia.

Seed production & marketing

FTFE VCA partners in Oromia are Becho Woliso FCU, Burka, and Amuari Seed producing Plc. These companies purchased/collected 120.9 MT of certified chickpea seed worth $119,947 (ETB 5,397,600), which included a premium of 15 percent over prevailing seed prices as an incentive to growers. In addition, Becho Woliso harvested 16.3 MT of seed from their farm. A total of 135.3 MT seed was sold with a value of $149,411 (ETB 6,723,500) to Farm Africa, GIZ, Damota Farmers’ Cooperative Unions, and others.

Table 12: Value and volume of chickpea seed

Partner Product

Breakdown of seed purchases Breakdown of seed sales

# of Suppliers

Variety Volume MT

Unit Price ETB

Total Value ETB

Volume MT

Unit Price ETB

Total Value ETB

Amuari C1 10 Habru 7.9 44,000 347,600 6 50,000 300,000 C1 7 Arerti 10 44,000 440,000 10 50,000 500,000 C1 6 Habru 13 50,000 650,000 13 60,000 780,000

Burka C1 6 Habru 60 44,000 2,640,000 60 49,000 2,940,000 C1 7 Arerti 30 44,000 1,320,000 30 49,000 1,470,000

Becho Woliso FCU

16.3 45,000 733,500

Total 120.9 5,397,600 135.3 6,723,500

In Amhara, Ghion FCU engaged in chickpea seed multiplication through the outgrower scheme. 180 outgrower farmers were paid $46,667 (ETB 2.1 million) from the production of 44.5 MT of seed.

Hermetic storage technology

FTFE VCA HST partners expanded their promotional activities into chickpea growing areas of Amhara and Oromia. A total of 748 bag tying and 150 bag opening village demonstrations and 599 market promotion events were held, achieving a total sale of 30,800 bags.

Grain marketing

In Amhara, FTFE VCA partner Tsehay Multipurpose Farmers’ Cooperative Union purchased 34.8 MT chickpea grain from two primary cooperatives (Chehera Coop in Gondar Zuria Woreda and Chuahit coop in West Dembia Woreda), with the total value of $25,226 (ETB 1,135,161).

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Table 13: Chickpea Grain Marketing

No Woreda Cooperative

Name Chickpea

Type

Purchased Volume

(MT)

Supplied to Union (MT)

Unit Price

ETB/MT

Purchase Value (ETB)

1 G/ Zuria Chehera Red 13.14 13.14 28,368 372,648 White 21.65 21.65 33,232 719,373

2 W/Dembia Chuahit Red 1.44 30,000 43,140

Total 36.23 34.78 1,135,161

Promotion of good agricultural practices

Ghion FCU, Becho Woliso FCU, Liban FCU, Ambo FCU, and Amuari Plc provide technical extension services to enhance smallholder chickpea production, productivity, and income through a contract farming mechanism. Under VCA’s partnership Amuari delivered technical training to 633 (61 female) outgrower farmers that planted 10 hectares of chickpea seed crops. In addition, the company provided advanced-level business training to six vendors to upgrade their seed marketing strategies and system for 2021.

Farmers training in chickpea production

Activities in Oromia continue to strengthen aggregation capacity and marketing systems for three unions in six woredas. This includes delivering agronomic training, chickpea seed (20 MT), bio fertilizer (650 sachets), and extension services on chickpea grain production 198 (6 female) smallholder farmers. The same farmers planted 52 hectares of land with conventional Arerti and Habru varieties. These were organized into seven clusters.

Spray service provision

FTFE VCA in partnership with CropLife Ethiopia expanded spray services to chickpea-producing target woredas. 150 new SSPs graduated from the training program; with 106 from Amhara and 44 from Oromia. A total of 1,159 hectares of chickpea were sprayed by SSPs, influencing 2,291 farmers who paid a total of $1,592 (ETB 71,652) in fees. Targeted chickpea woredas benefited from the SSP program include W. Dembia, East Dembia, Gonder Zuria, Enemy, Awabel, Dejen, and Ayehu Guagussa from Amhara and Adea and Gimbichu woredas from Oromia.

2.6 COFFEE

Ultimately, the collective goal of all FTFE VCA interventions in the coffee value chain is to increase the production, sales, and incomes of smallholder coffee farmers. FTFE VCA has been supporting smallholder coffee farmers, primary cooperatives, unions, commercial farmers, coffee processors, and exporters through postharvest technologies, establishing outgrower market linkage, access to loan capital, and capacity building training. In the reporting period, the coffee value chain reached 6,553 clients (1,930 female) through training, field days, technical and material support, and market linkages.

Members Janchu Coffee Cooprative in Mizan, SNNP

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Junior professionals cupping training

Five rounds of junior cupping training were conducted from January to September 2021 at Mizan Aman City in SNNPR and Addis Ababa. In total, 107 (33 female) members of the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association, Ethiopian Women in Coffee, cooperative, and quality specialists attended the three-day course in each round. The course curriculum was developed by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), and delivered by the local coffee services company called COQUA trading.

The training allows new cuppers to enter the professional coffee sector with knowledge of cupping standards and how to determine quality coffee. The students are able to progress to more advanced technical training with the option to take the Q Arabica Grader Course & Exam. In addition, trainees learn how to communicate with specialty coffee buyers about quality, flavor, and value. The instructor and CQI representatives on-site remarked that the attitude and level of participation during the courses were excellent.

Marketing intelligence training

The international subcontract with Boot Coffee has provided comprehensive data about international buyers’ perceived strengths and weaknesses of the Ethiopian coffee sector. Course components included practical knowledge on key areas in the global coffee value chain, global sales trends, consumer preferences, pricing calculations, competitors, food safety requirements, certifications, and requirements of buyers. This material forms the core content of a new online video-based training course on specialty coffee marketing. The four training modules identify areas in which the sector can improve and become more competitive.

To improve the market linkage problem for the coffee producers, processors, and commercial farmers, an intensive three days’ market intelligence training was conducted in Oromia, SNNP, and Amhara. The 95 participants (17 female) comprised coffee exporters, union managers, and commercial farm managers. Participants took a written exam to assess their understanding of each module and justify award of course certificates upon completion.

Q Arabica retake training

Q Arabica Graders are part of CQI’s Q Coffee System, an internationally recognized program for evaluating cup quality based on a standardized system using protocols developed by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) for Arabica coffee. The Q Arabica Grader qualification is a highly trained and calibrated coffee expert who expertly grades coffee using SCA Arabica cupping protocols. It is a professional competency certification attesting that a coffee professional possesses the necessary sensory skills, the required technical knowledge, and judging criteria to grade green coffee based on the Q Coffee and Specialty Coffee Standard.

The six-day Q Arabica Grader Combo Training and Exams presents 20 practical tests relating to an individual’s ability to accurately and consistently cup and grade coffee according to SCA standards and protocols, including a thorough understanding of the cupping form. Students are graded on their sensory skills, taste and aroma recognitions, their ability to cup coffees from multiple origins, their ability to grade

Market intelligence training participants in Jimma, Oromia

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green and roasted coffee, and their level of general coffee knowledge. Participants completing all exams will be able to objectively evaluate a coffee based on cup quality and origin and provide feedback on cup nuances, defects, and flavors. From September 20-25, 2019, CQI conducted a retake exam for 12 students, 10 of whom passed the exam and earned credential certification as a Q-Grader.

CQI Q Calibration

A certified Q Grader must participate in calibration exercises every three years to ensure uniformity and objectivity of coffee evaluations as well as renew the Q Grader license. The calibration process involves cupping three sets of coffees with distinct attributes, to re-test the Q Graders’ knowledge of the SCA standards for grading and evaluating coffee. All Q Graders must be in calibration and pass two of the three flights to renew their licenses and qualify as licensed Q Graders. Upon passing, the Q Graders’ license will remain valid for another 36 months. On September 25, CQI conducted a calibration test for seven participants and renewed all seven licenses.

B2B meetings between coffee suppliers, exporters, and buyers

FTFE VCA facilitated a B2B meeting for coffee farmers and cooperatives from three woredas of Jimma zone. Facilitated by COQUA, the interactive session included cupping of 30 samples together with invited international buyers including Falcon and Starbucks. As a result, 42,230 kg of coffee with parchment was sold with a total value of $219,933.

Coffee drying materials

The default method for coffee processing in Western Ethiopia is the natural processing style using basic sun-drying systems. Currently, less than 20 percent of coffee farmers in Jimma and Mizan have access to washed coffee processing. In the last two years, FTFE VCA supported 28 coffee groups with 1000 m2 drying equipment to process 150 tons of green sundried coffee every year. This year, the attention switched to 750 (239 female) smallholders who were trained on the construction and installation of drying beds. The activity distributed 150 mesh nets, 450 shade nets, and 1,751 kg plastic cover with a capacity to process 225 tons of specialty sundried coffee in, Jimma, Kaffa, and Bench Sheko zones.

Micro-mill operational training

FTFE VCA installed 31 Micro Mills in Bench Sheko, Kaffa, and Jimma zones over the reporting period, with a capacity to process 250 tons of washed coffee and an estimated farm-gate value of $ 696,428. All Micro Mills are fully operational and ready for the coming coffee season following the technical training of 54 machine operators on machinery maintenance and troubleshooting. This refresher course training was part of the handover and sustainable exit strategy for VCA to safeguard USAID investment in specialized processing machinery, ensure high standards of operator safety and environmental management are maintained in the future.

Cup of Excellence

The second Cup of Excellence competition in Ethiopia took place in 2021 with the Ethiopian Coffee Exporter Association taking the leadership role and management of the competition. The extensive sponsorship support from FTFE VCA included provision of cupping and roasting equipment.

Micro mill installation and maintenance training in Jimma, Oromia

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The competition received 1,848 coffee samples representing different growing areas, processing methods, and farm types. The Ethiopia Cup of Excellence 2021 auction achieved record results in the following areas.

Total gross auction sales revenue of $1.9 million.

The highly anticipated auction attracted 188 buyers from 33 countries.

The online auction platform processed more than 4,000 bids in over nine hours.

The top-scoring coffee was sold for $150 per pound ($330 per kilogram).

The average price for the 30 international winning coffees was $32.12 per pound.

Coffee harvesting, quality management, and processing training

1,452 (461 female) farmers from Gimbo & Shishonde, North & South Bench, Jabitehnan, Bure Zuriya, Guangua, and Dera woredas attended a training on coffee harvesting and quality management. Upgrading skills capacity with producers and extensions staff in Oromia, Amhara and SNNP provide the knowledge to improve postharvest practices. The awareness of national and international quality standards using detailed bean-defect analysis are key factors to reduce unnecessary losses of crop and income. The trained producers collected 20,967,213 kg of red cherries in the current season for processing into specialty natural and washed coffee as indicated in Table 14.

Table 14: Harvested coffee volume through trained beneficiaries Union or and farmer name Red cherry collected per Kilograms 1 Bench Maji coffee union 3,662,067 2 Kaffa Union 378,649 3 Demeke wana 165,091 4 Solomon Shashtate 117,000 5 ZAT PLC. 70,000 6 Tega Tula PLC. 192,877 7 Diamond Enterprise 17,717 8 Tatimara PLC 32,172 9 Keta Muduga union 10,735,198 10 Limu Anria 5,596,442 TOTAL 20,967,213 kg

Outgrower scheme & market linkage

A fundamental change in coffee strategy and legislation started in 2018 to encourage vertical integration and move away from the trading monopoly with ECX. This flexible business environment has stimulated long-term interest in more efficient and transparent outgrower schemes aligned with larger plantations. In this arrangement, commercial farms provide production support in terms of input supply, technical assistance, and guaranteed market, while farmers supply coffee quantity and meet quality standards specified in the agreement. However, smaller volumes challenge most of the commercial farms that have better market linkages within the international coffee market. When they try to increase volume from the local market, they meet increased issues of poor quality. The outgrower scheme training facilitated by FTFE VCA in Oromia (Jimma) and SNNP (Kaffa) is helping both the commercial producers and 895 growers (291 female) to build a long-term relationship, which will improve income for all parties involved.

Cup of Excellence 2021 winner, Tameru Taddesse

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Coffee exports

Key partnership organizations processed more than 9,271 tons of green coffee exports with a sales value of $30,999,625, equivalent to an average price of $3.34/kg.

Table 15: Partnership export volume and value

S/n Region and zone Volume of green coffee exported in MT

Total USD Destination

1 Kaffa & Bench Sheko 3,140 17,033,218.71 Germany, Japan, France, US 2 Jimma 6,131 13,966,407.26 US, UK, Japan and France Total 9,271 30,999,625.97

Partner activities

Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Association is a local NGO based in Mizan. The overall goal of the partnership with Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Association was to strengthen the capacity of 17 coffee cooperatives in Bench Maji Zone Debub Bench woreda to help them sustainably manage and trade their coffee to different market outlets. Key outcomes from the partnership with FTFE VCA include:

Provision of Technology Fund materials including 11 balance scales, 1,500 sacks, and 16 packs of mesh wire.

3,882 members (948 female participated in field events for coffee handling.

2,567 members (620 female) participated in marketing and coffee management training.

The number of women members in the cooperatives increased by 216 percent.

The grade of green coffee improved from 7/8 (low quality) to 1 to 3 (top quality).

Total coffee exports exceeded $ 11 million.

Keta Muduga Union (KMU) is a very young organization has already achieved remarkable achievements in a short time. Established in 2016, the union exported 1,000 tons of specialty and traceable coffee valued at about $6.7 million in 2017. Key outcomes from the partnership with FTFE VCA include:

Training of trainers to 5,053 individuals, including development agents, agronomists, and smallholder farmers.

Cooperative members are now supplying better quality parchment coffee, which in turn increased the export price and the number of buyers.

The coffee quality enhancement project positively influenced members’ income through an increase in the dividend they receive from KMU.

Eleven primary cooperatives exported 307,200 kg of green bean coffee through the union to the UK and US and earned $1,286,770.

The union also established a cupping lab in Addis Ababa to improve timeliness in providing feedback on coffee quality to wet milling stations and buyers.

Keta Muduga especially focused on the inclusion of women and youth in all training. Women were targeted as new cooperative members.

Keta Muduga facilitated linkages between female-headed households and financial service providers.

The program created job opportunities for 52 individual and youth groups supported in providing red cherry transportation services from the farm to homes or milling stations during harvest season.

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Coffee nurseries as commercial business

FTFE VCA has been supporting 71 coffee nursery sites owned by farmer’s innovation groups, CIGs, youth groups, and cooperatives. During the year, the nursery sites sold nearly half of their total production capacity, with the remaining seedlings allocated to nursery members. The 685,264 improved coffee seedlings sold to some 3,000 farmers provided a sales income of ETB 1,412,992 as shown in Table 16.

Table 16: Coffee seedling production and distribution

Region Zone Woreda M F T Total coffee

seedling produced

Income generated

ETB

Other crop seedlings

# pcs

SNNP Kaffa Decha. Gimbo. D/Bench. Shishiendaand. Yeki

1129 307 1436 639,2700 570,194 130,700

Oromia Jimma Gera. Gomma. Limu Seqa. 950 450 1400 502,350 271992 18,000

Amhara Jabitehinan. Guangua. Dera 82 82 164 614,796 590,222 11491

Total 539 3,000 1,756,416 1,412,992 160,191

Thirteen nursery sites in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP were selected as suitable for solar-powered irrigation-water pumps with a package of equipment funded by FTFE VCA through a Technology Fund. The irrigation system reduces labor and increases production capacity to encourage diversification into the production of seedlings for spices, fruit trees, and vegetables.

As a result, of these approaches and other tailored support, remarkable results were achieved in employment creation, seedling supply for the farmers, and in replacement of old coffee trees with high yielding improved coffee varieties. One such example is Demeksitu, a youth-owned CIG with 10 (3 female) members evolving into a modern site with strong business prospects. Demekisitu CIG originally had seven members producing less than 7,000 coffee seedlings. After the FTFE VCA intervention, the CIG now produces more than 40,000 seedlings with polybags. The group also received solar-powered systems and now the site is self-sustaining, covering all costs and making a profit for the members.

Improved coffee management practices

The productivity of coffee farms declines over time because of the age of coffee trees and disease problems. The solution is improved management practices such as pruning, uprooting aged coffee, and replanting new varieties. Stumping training helps farmers understand the benefit of old coffee trees pruned off, how to prune, and post-pruning coffee farm management like cultivation, cover crop planting, thinning, and other practices. FTFE VCA trained a core group of 2,264 (734 female), smallholder farmers from 11 woredas of Oromia, SNNP, and Amhara. After the training, the Coffee and Tea Authority extension experts mobilized more than 24,000 neighboring farmers to prune 4,569 hectares of old coffee trees.

Members of Demekisitu CIG received a solar power system

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3. CROSS-CUTTING 3.1 CAPACITY BUILDING

Market Information System (MIS)

At a macro level, the Ethiopian food industry is characterized by high-prices across the domestic market whilst exports of agricultural commodities continue to be driven by distorted demand for foreign exchange. Food prices throughout Ethiopia became a national concern when annual food price inflation hit a record high of some 34 percent in July 2021.

Causal factors included continuing shortage of imported raw material for processors such as Wheat and Palm Oil. Inefficient domestic supply chains for meat supply, with a lack of suitable quality animals, was exacerbated by the high cost of livestock feed. The seasonal impact of the rainy season on fruit and vegetable production caused serious fluctuations in the price of popular staples. For example, the farm gate price of Onion varied from a low of 5 Birr/kg in the dry-season surplus period in April/May to a record high of 45 Birr/kg in August/September. Dairy processors have struggled to source sufficient milk in bulk and farm gate prices have risen steadily in response to competition for reliable supply, with a corresponding increase in retail prices.

The analysis, publication and distribution of market price briefs for Maize, Chickpea, Coffee, Poultry and MLA by the Capacity team has measured the commodity dynamics during the year. As an example, the most recent brief on Maize in Figure 8 illustrates the recent spike in prices across regional markets and the underlying trends over the year.

The brief analysis on retail prices of basic consumers’ food items in the Mekelle, Mayhew, and Shire markets in Tigray during February 2021 provided insight for the inflationary pressure due to supply demand shortages in a conflict situation.

Financial Services Support

Four local banks – Enat, Addis International, Oromia International, and Awash – signed the partial loan portfolio guarantee agreement with the USAID Development Finance Corporation at different times to provide loans to SMEs operating in the agricultural sector. Oromia International bank has fully utilized its maximum portfolio and stopped approval of new loans under the DFC facility in November 2020. Enat and Addis International banks renewed the agreement with the DFC in June 2020 for an additional period

700

900

1,100

1,300

1,500

1,700

1,900

2,100

2,300

ETB/

Qui

ntal

AAE Berenda Bahir Dar D/Dawa Jimma Nazareth

Figure 8: Maize market brief

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of three years to support and restore agribusinesses that have been significantly affected by COVID-19. Awash Bank signed the loan portfolio agreement with the DFC in December 2020 to finance microfinance institutions in addition to agribusiness SMEs.

This year, 15 agribusinesses received technical and financial service support from FTFE VCA to access financing through banks under these DFC agreements. The total value of loan approval and disbursement during the year is $2.04 million (ETB 91.2 million), as shown in Table 17.

Table 17: Breakdown of DFC-supported loan approvals in FY 2021.

Value Chain No of loan recipients

Total loan value ETB

Total loan value $ Regions

Meat & Live Animal 5 20.8 million 0.46 million Amhara, Oromia

Dairy 1 0.5 million 0.11 million SNNPR

Coffee 6 48.4 million 1.07 million Oromia, SNNP

Poultry 2 11.5 million 0.2 million Oromia

Chickpea 1 10 million 0.2 million Amhara

Total 15 91.2 million 2.04 million

Tailored financial forums among the value chain actors and financial institutions involved 45 representatives from Awash Bank, Addis Bank, Abyssinia Bank, Cooperative Bank of Oromia, Oromia International Bank as well as branch managers from MFIs. The events raised the awareness of the SMEs about the availability of different credit products and the minimum requirements of the financial institutions to qualify for the loan. The individual B2B networking sessions helped the financial institutions to see and appreciate the potential and viability of these businesses.

Once the DFC loans are approved and the bank disburse the funds, FTFE VCA continues to follow up on the businesses and provides the necessary technical and material supports as the summary noted in Table 18. Almost all businesses have the BDS and/or material support except the two poultry businesses and a chickpea exporter. Both poultry businesses are under construction and not yet operational.

Table 18: DFC supported agribusinesses

No Business Name/Owner Value Chain

Business Activity

Date of Approval

VCA Support Activities

1 Tesfahun, Yohannes and Friends Cattle Fattening Partnership

MLA Cattle Fattening Oct 2020

Feedlot operation technique, cattle fattening business and financial management trainings, Technology fund

2 Tusa Kiflela Sheep Breeding MLA Sheep Breeding, Conditioning and Distribution

March 2021 Feed loot operation Technique, Marketing and Financial Management Training

3 Elesabet Mekonen MLA Cattle Fattening February 2021

Sheep Breeding, Conditioning and Distribution

4 Debanu Dimtu Trading Plc MLA Cattle Fattening June 2021

Feedlot operation technique, cattle fattening business and financial management training, Technology fund

6 Egna Legna Dairy Farm & Processing

Dairy Milk production, Collection and processing

Jan 2021 Dairy Business Management, Technology fund

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7 Meriam Abafogi Coffee Coffee Farm, processing

March 2021 Business Management, Technology fund

8 Nejib Hadji sadik Coffee Coffee Farm, processing March 2021

Business Management, Technology fund

9 Tesfaye Kejela Coffee Coffee Farm, processing

May 2021 Business Management, Technology fund

10 Sabiko Abamecha Coffee Coffee Farm, processing

February 2021

Business Management, Technology fund

All the three partner banks (Awash, Enat, Addis Int’l) have continued to approve DFC loans. Awash has been particularly positive in appraising new agribusiness loans against the partial DFC credit guarantee and ranks first by disbursing a total loan of ETB 88 million to 11 SMEs. Addis Inti’l has disbursed ETB 84 million, and Oromia Int’l ETB 54 million. Currently, there are 13 SMEs that have been reviewed by FTFE VCA and recommended for a bank loan; they are now in the pipeline awaiting bank approval. These businesses are requesting a total loan amount of $10.3 million (ETB 138.9 million), with total investments (own equity source and loan) expected to exceed $4.5 million (ETB 203 million) and 272 new jobs created.

Table 19: Businesses in the DFC pipeline

No. Business Name/

Owner

Loan Amount

Requested (ETB)

DFC Bank

Expected Impact

Address Total Investment

No. new jobs

Annual capacity

Value Chain: Meat and Live Animal (MLA)

1 Yityal Mistru Cattle Fattening

6million Awash 15 Million 8 530 Dembecha, Amhara

2 Endalew Demessie Cattle Fattening

3M AdIB 4.5M 5 100 Dangila, Amhara

3 Taychew 16M Awash 24M 30 1,350 Bahir Dar, Amhara

4 Dereje Ardede Cattle Fattening

2M Awash 2.8M 9 120 Oromia, Sagure

5 Getu Chernet Cattle Fattening Enterprise

0.8M Awash 1.7M 9 100 Oromia, Sagure

Value Chain: Coffee

1 Habtamu Abebe Coffee Plantation Farm 25M Awash 29.1M 18

1,180 tons

Shishonde, Kaffa, SNNP

2 Solomon Coffee Plantation & Processing Enterprise

4M Awash 11.6M 19 1,000 tons

Limu Seka, Jimma, Oromia

3 Mohammed Coffee Plantation and Processing Enterprise

2.5M Awash 6..7M 20 47 Limu Seka, Jimma, Oromia

Value Chain: Chickpea

1 Aschalew Takele and Export Business 30.8m Awash 44M 52

3,140 Oromia, tons Borena

2 Abyssinia Import Export 14.4M awash 20M 30 1,500 Addis Ababa Value Chain: Poultry

1 Mastewal, Hana & Friends Poultry Partnership Enterprise

10.5M Awash 11.8M 25

2,880,000 Eggs

Bahir Dar 36,000 Pullets

2 13.9M Awash 20.5M 33 91,800 Broilers

Bahir Dar

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Table 19: Businesses in the DFC pipeline

No. Business Name/

Owner

Loan Amount

Requested (ETB)

DFC Bank

Expected Impact

Address Total Investment

No. new jobs

Annual capacity

Asnaku, Balewken and Friends Poultry Partnership

40,000 pullets

3 Sidisu, Getachew, Dechassa and Friends Integrated Poultry Farm

10M Awash 11.5M 14

345,000 Eggs Lume,

Oromia 24,000 pullets

Financial Forums

FTFE VCA organized and facilitated 13 financial forums across the four regions among value chain agribusinesses, MFIs, and banking institutions. The information exchange on regional agribusiness environment and growth opportunities provide positive context to all participants. The next session emphasizes the specific needs of women entrepreneurs and their challenges in accessing finance. The presentations by the bank staff on specific loan products, eligibility criteria, and loan procedures provide a matching awareness to the various businesses. The subsequent one-to-one matchmaking sessions resulted in more than 100 linkages between SMEs and MFIs and DFC-supported banks.

A complimentary financial forum approach was the partnership with a business management consulting company (LM Quality Management) to assess the viability of 13 selected dairy businesses that had received DFC-supported loans. Total borrowing from this group of $1.02 million (ETB 46.2 million) had been underperforming in terms of loan repayments and underlying cash flow and profitability issues. The package of technical support provided by LM staff is described in the dairy value chain section of this report. The detailed individual business analysis provided by LM defines a financial recovery plan with milestones and timeframes to improve confidence levels at the respective banks and ensure management discipline for the implementation of tough remedial measures during 2022.

Agribusiness training

The national capacity team delivered an advanced level of agribusiness awareness and training methodologies to regional capacity specialists. In turn, this helped these staff organize their training programs for cooperatives, agrodealers, women and youth groups, and CIGs.

Organized a joint training program with the Amhara team on agribusiness development and financial management to 85 participants (60 female) in different value chain activities.

Organized a joint training program with the Oromia team on agribusiness development and financial management for 106 (40 female) women and youth.

Agribusiness development and financial management training to 180 (22 female) value chain actors, and 174 (39 female) cooperative members, engaged in coffee and maize businesses in Kaffa Bench, Mizan, and Shecko zone, SNNP.

Crop aggregation & storage

Lack of improved aggregation system and modern storage management practices are the major problems in the Maize producing areas of the SNNP region. Most of the Unions and Cooperatives struggle with poor storage facilities and knowledge gaps in management. To address this issue, FTFE VCA provided the following training on aggregation and marketing.

Organized crop management training to 286 leaders and members of unions and cooperatives.

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Delivered aggregation, and marketing training to 382 lead firms and aggregators in SNNP focused on warehouse management, quality control, marketing, and post-harvest handling.

Monitored regional capacity specialists in providing sufficient follow-up and refresher training to participants during site visits to monitor progress in adopting key recommendations.

The total program of capacity building training impacted 1,435 participants.

Livestock training

Marketing, costing, and recordkeeping training to 126 (47 female) agribusiness operators engaged in cattle fattening from Oromia.

Recordkeeping and stock management training provided on-site for a total of 1,213 business operators (457 female) engaged in poultry.

Poultry training included the following woreda in Oromia (Gimbichu, Lume, Ejere), Amhara (Dangila, Gondar, and Worot), SNNPR (Hawassa Zuria, Hosahena, Wolita, Endegagn), and Tigray (Enderta and K/Laelo).

Table 20: Training participants in MLA and Poultry Type of Training

Amhara Oromia SNNP Tigray All M F Total M F Total M F Total M F Total Total

MLA agribusiness

- - 79 47 126 - - - - 126

Poultry agribusiness

177 65 242 251 245 496 251 156 407 47 21 68 1213

Total 177 242 330 292 622 407 68 1,339

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Agrodealers

Most agrodealers are located in small towns in the rural areas and predominantly operate as informal businesses from small premises. Selecting suitable agrodealers based within geographic clusters, as shown in Figure 15, improves efficiency and impact on the prevailing value chains

A total of 80 private-sector agrodealers received infrastructure equipment. Each site continues to receive technical and business management assistance to improve access to high-quality inputs at affordable prices; together with advisory services for smallholder farmers through a short supply chain.

Linking these retail outlets with 42 commercial partners including Farm Service Centers, feed processors, and wholesalers continues to improve stock levels, product range, and technical knowledge. Popular items such as seeds, agrochemicals, veterinary drugs, and PICS bags are generating critical mass in terms of turnover and repeat orders from the local farming community. The breakdown by type of business is shown in Table 21.

From the total, a group of 20 agrodealer sites were upgraded in August/September 2021. These 20 sites distributed in Amhara (8), SNNP (9), and Oromia (3) have been supplied with items such as shelving, display cabinets, and solar power for fridges to store animal health vaccines.

Table 21: Distribution of agrodealers by business category

Region No of

Wereda Crop+ agro-

chemicals Veterinary

Drug Farm tool Feed

Beneficiary agro dealer

No of Partner

Oromia 12 11 12 3 4 30 29 Amhara 10 9 10 - 1 20 20 South 9 5 12 1 3 21 12 Tigray 4 5 4 - 9 4 Total 35 30 38 4 8 80 65

Agrodealers supplied multiple inputs and services, which sold to smallholder farmers in the four regions on demand. From October 2020 to August 2021, inputs worth $1.48 million (ETB 66,665,501) were sold to 231,113 (46,220 female) smallholder farmers, as detailed in Figure 16.

FTFE VCA’s support has positively impacted the agrodealer business, with a spot survey in April 2021 showing an average increase of 28 percent in footfall of customers. The assistance package has supported the individual shops in an increasing their ability to provide quality inputs for customers; diversifying their product range and service offerings, particularly with agrochemicals and field extension; increasing their ability to store vaccines and drugs for longer periods; and improving recordkeeping methods.

Figure 9: Agrodealers across regions

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Asked about their future business plans, most of the agrodealers responded that they are committed to increasing the quality and quantity of inputs service and upgrading their business to fully licensed one-stop-shop services. These business plans need support with access to finance, training, facilitating input products, commercial market linkage, and experience sharing visits.

Ensuring the sustainability of this initiative relies on continued support from the linkages with mainstream suppliers and from the regional government. Some agrodealers are representative agents for feed and chemicals in some regions, such as agrodealer Dr. Zerhun now acting as a distributor for the OK Feed processing company. The Oromia Bureau of Agriculture has recognized the benefits of agrodealer partnerships supported by FTFE VCA in extension services and input supply to smallholders. As a result, the Bureau has written a supporting letter to the government input supply agency (AISCO) requesting priority support for the supply of key inputs.

3.2 NUTRITION

FTFE VCA has mainstreamed nutrition throughout nutrition-sensitive agricultural value chains by promoting positive nutrition behavior changes. FTFE VCA worked to increase food production for consumption as well as to increase income among beneficiaries to ensure a well-balanced diet, to improve overall beneficiaries’ health and nutrition outcomes. Better nutrition knowledge increases the uptake of diverse food groups by households, expanded awareness and good nutrition practices, access, availability, and consumption of nutritious foods.

Key field achievements

3,175 (95 percent female) beneficiaries across the four regions benefitted from vegetable production and farm management training. The training imparted agronomic skills for vegetable production to guide farmers towards sustainable production, as well as enhanced their knowledge on the importance of consuming nutrient-dense foods.

130 cooking demonstration events benefitted 6,664 (58 percent female) beneficiaries in conjunction with Health Extension Workers. The small group sessions engaged the participants

Dr. Zerihun Wolde, an agrodealer in Woliso, Oromia region serves up to 5,000 farmers annually

12,0

11,9

95.8

0

15,2

12,8

77

24,1

30,2

56

15,3

10,3

73

66,6

65,5

01.8

0

30,4

48

3896

9

100,

661

61,0

35

231,

113

2 0 2 0 ( O C T -D E C

2 0 2 1 ( J A N -M A R C H )

2 0 2 1 ( A P R I L -J U N E )

2 0 2 1 ( J U L Y -S E P )

T O T A L

Q U A R T E R S

Value in Birr

Beneficiary no

Figure 10: Beneficiary number and value of sales in ETB

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in diversified food preparation, food groups, tasting events, food safety lessons, and practicing new cooking skills.

460 women care group leaders received training on the use of mobile phone-based nutrition messaging applications, and cascaded the training and shared the app to 4,152 women care group members in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP. Receiving a message or information in an app over their mobile apparatus contributed to each beneficiary acquiring useful nutrition information that contributed to behavior change. Tilaye Kebede, a 38-year-old woman living in Amhara, said “I have listened to the nutrition messages every day during my free time. This changed my feeding practice…previously, I thought eating too many of the foods I like was considered as a balanced diet.”

Key capacity building achievements

21,234 (49 percent female) farmers received dietary diversity training across value chain activities, which was provided jointly with the FTFE VCA value chain teams and sub-grantees. The farmers learned about the nutritional importance of various food groups and how to diversify their dietary intake from agricultural products.

Eight local radio stations broadcasted 3,480 minutes of nutrition messages in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP. An estimated 15 million radio listeners tuned in for the information. Monitoring of people’s feedback has shown that the community appreciated the messages and encouraged them on the importance of diverse foods consumption, especially women in the reproductive age group.

18,170 nutrition-focused promotional materials including posters, flip charts, sermon guides, recipe cards, and quick references were distributed. Training on their use was provided to beneficiaries and service providers to improve the nutrition sensitivity of agricultural value chains and increase adoption of positive nutrition practices.

1,496 (33 percent female) participants, representing health and agriculture extension workers, religious leaders, and influential elders, benefitted from nutrition-sensitive agriculture and good nutrition practice training. Trainees also included participants from Milk Collection Centers (MCC), Farmers Cooperative Union (FCU), Common Interest Groups (CIGs), and FTFE VCA sub-grantees. This allowed the group to understand how to provide technical support for better

Radio message on nutrition reached 15 million listeners

Dietary diversity training and cooking demonstration in Amhara

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nutrition outcomes in agricultural activities. The training also motivated pregnant and lactating women (PLW) to increase consumption of animal source foods, build the required knowledge and skills to mainstream nutrition, and transfer knowledge to their members.

1,284 (22 percent female) agriculture and health extension workers, farmers’ cooperative unions, religious leaders, and influential elders in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray benefitted from review meetings, creating opportunities for discussions on women’s dietary diversity performance and how to improve diets going forward.

FTFE VCA commissioned a consultancy via subcontractor IMC to document lessons learned from its nutrition mainstreaming interventions. The document will be shared with relevant stakeholders to help inform future interventions.

Meetings & events

Organized Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women (MDD-W) workshop in Bahir Dar, Amhara among key stakeholders. Discussions included a revised MDD-W from locally available foods in Amhara.

FTF partners’ nutrition coordination meeting included 11 members in Amhara who discussed the progress of convergence and layering activities planned during year 4, the way forward, and lessons learned, and identification of best practices.

The annual performance review meeting with the Regional Bureau of Agriculture was organized in Finoteselam, Amhara. Presentations included the FTFE VCA MDD-W 2020 annual evaluation results and main findings.

A Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) forum organized with the SNNP Office of Agriculture, was attended by 34 (18 percent female) participants. The representatives from each organization presented achievements, challenges, and action plans towards achieving national NSA agendas.

Supervision visits for 450 livestock and crops beneficiaries in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNPR shared the lessons learned, generated success stories, including integrated poultry rearing and vegetable production.

FTFE VCA chicken meat entrepreneurs were trained on the nutritional value of chicken meat and the importance of dietary diversity. The training which included personal and food hygiene practices were conducted during a roadside chicken meat cooking demonstration event in Adama, Oromia. Participants also received nutrition promotional materials.

Women’s Dietary Diversity Survey

The results from the FTFE VCA 2021 Annual Evaluation Survey of the minimum women dietary diversity showed that 72 percent of sampled women beneficiaries consumed five or more food categories over the past 24-hour period. This is a 9 percent improvement compared to last year. Overall, the diet of the sampled women was highly dependent on starchy staples followed by other vegetables and pulses. Meat, poultry, and fish followed by eggs and nuts and seeds were the least consumed food groups. Consumption of low nutrient foods and fruit and vegetables among women was high across all regions.

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Grains, white roots and tubersPulses

Nuts and seedsDairy

Meat, poultry and fishEggs

Dark green vegetablesOther Vitamin A vegetables…

Other vegetablesAny other vegetables

2021 2020

Figure 11: 2020 MDD-W Vs 2021 MDD-W

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Gender differences in nutrition and food consumption pattern have shown significant improvement across the three regions compared to 2020. Men’s role and involvement in supporting their spouses’ nutritional well-being has also improved over the previous year.

3.3 GENDER & YOUTH INCLUSION

Gender equality, female empowerment, and positive youth development (PYD) is essential for achieving USAID and AGP-II development goals, as well as FTFE VCA targets. The project’s two-pronged approach includes specific targeted women’s and youth empowerment interventions, as well as a broad crosscutting emphasis to integrate women, men, and youth considerations across all targeted value chains. The gender and youth expertise provided by subcontractor Banyan Global, in close collaboration with the M&E team, continue to monitor the overall level of female and youth participation across project activities.

Gender analysis

Figure 18 illustrates the annual trends for farmer participation disaggregated by sex and region. This year (FY2021), of all individuals reached through project interventions, 43 percent were female and 57 percent male, surpassing the project’s goal of 30 percent female participants. Regionally, SNNP reached 55 percent, Oromia reached 49 percent, Tigray 35 percent, and Amhara 31 percent of female participants.

Figure 19 illustrates the annual trends for farmer participation disaggregated by sex and value chain. The data show that some of the value chains perform beyond the project target for female participants during this year including poultry (52 percent), MLA (48 percent), dairy (33 percent), and coffee (30 percent). Maize (29 percent) and chickpea (28 percent) were close but fell slightly short.

Youth analysis

Figure 20 illustrates the annual trends for youth participation disaggregated by age and region. This year, of all individuals reached through project interventions, 25 percent are youth and 75 percent adult,

Figure 12: Annual Engagement with farmers disaggregated by sex and region

Blue: Female Green: Male

Figure 13: Annual engagement with farmers disaggregated by sex and value chain

Blue: Female Green: Male

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reaching the project’s goal of 25 percent youth participants. Regionally, SNNP reached 31 percent, Oromia reached 25 percent. Amhara’s and Tigray’s engagement with youth this year were relatively low compared to the other two regions at 21 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

Figure 21 illustrates the annual trends for youth participation disaggregated by age and value chain. The data show that youth this year were most engaged through poultry (30 percent) and coffee (25 percent) activities. Youth were less active in dairy (20 percent), maize (19 percent), MLA (18 percent), and chickpea (15 percent) activities.

Compared to the previous year (FY2020), female participation increased in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP, and decreased in Tigray. Similarly, youth participation increased in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP, and decreased in Tigray. Compared to the previous year, female participation increased in chickpea, MLA, maize, coffee, and poultry value chains, and decreased in dairy. Similarly, youth participation increased in dairy and maize value chains and decreased in chickpea, MLA, coffee, and poultry.

Targeted women’s & youth empowerment interventions

Transformative Household Methodology (THM)

THM is the behaviour change-based activity that examines gender roles and social norms to ultimately promote more equitable decision-making and positive farm and agribusiness outcomes. The tool has proven to be particularly effective in rural and agricultural contexts because it is accessible at varying education levels and promotes a process that is simple and easily understood by all household members.

This year VCA trained 480 male and female development army representatives who work in poultry, dairy, chickpea, and MLA through THM training workshops carried out in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray. A step-by-step instructional video to capture THM concepts and applications is a complimentary resource to the existing THM print materials developed in FY2020.A total of 6,194 individuals participated in THM activities led by the trained facilitators in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray.

Figure 14: annual engagement with farmers disaggregated by age and region

Blue: 15-29 Green: 30+

Figure 15: VCA annual engagement with farmers disaggregated by age and value chain

Blue: 15-29 Green: 30+

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Business Skill Training for Women & Youth

Training in business leadership, marketing, and financial management was conducted for a total of 415 (231 female) participants representing different cooperatives, common interest groups (CIGs), and private businesses. This training promoted youth and women’s economic empowerment and skills development in agribusiness and financial management.

Gender Equality & Positive Youth Development Training

The training was developed to enhance the capacity of cooperative and CIG leaders to work with and engage members including women and youth, as well as to specifically improve ways of thinking about and collaborating with youth. During the activity, current youth engagement practices were reviewed and participants discussed avenues to better support youth in their agribusiness endeavors.

A total of 394 (152 female) leaders from dairy, poultry, and MLA cooperatives and CIGs in Amhara, Oromia, and SNNP.

A total of 104 government partners from the regions participated in gender equality and positive youth development training across Amhara, Oromia, and Tigray.

In Oromia, 44 participants joined to familiarize themselves with more modern dairy farm constructions for feeding area sanitation, yogurt and cheese processing, and modern techniques for poultry farm and coffee nursery management.

In SNNP, 51 participants came together at the Gabebo MCC in Lemo woreda. The experience-sharing event created a good opportunity for participants to learn more about the MCC activity and its benefits.

In Tigray, 60 participants familiarized themselves with more modern dairy shade construction and different dairy technologies such as forage development.

A total of 90 (18 female) FTFE VCA staff participated in experience-sharing opportunities in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray to discuss youth and women's challenges and develop action points to reach more participants.

A total of 35 (12 female) youth participants attended the leadership and assertiveness training from various value chains including poultry, dairy, and meat, and live animals. The training was structured in age-appropriate ways that facilitated active and open dialogue and ideas exchange among all youth participants.

A total of 333 women (and 28 men) participated in the Women in Leadership training across all four regions. Participants made action plans for their respective cooperatives to mobilize their peers, increase women’s membership, and enhance women’s leadership in decision-making bodies.

As a result of the training in SNNP, for example, Bosa Kecha Milk Cooperative Union in Sodo Zuriya held an election that resulted in 19 women being elected to leadership positions, four of which were management positions including the chairperson.

The three-month internship program for 10 youth (4 female) in Tigray ran from June 15 to September 15, 2021, providing them with an opportunity to build skills in the formal job economy.

Business Mentorship

Mentorship programs help individual business owners or small and medium-sized enterprises to grow through information exchange, feedback, insight and reach common understandings between the mentor and mentee pairs. This year, VCA identified 110 successful women and youth business owners across all regions and provided them with mentorship training to equip them with skills to support up-and-coming entrepreneurs and their businesses. The 110 mentors then identified and carried out their targeted coaching and experience sharing for 506 mentees in the poultry, dairy, and MLA value chains. The mentor-

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mentee relationships also allowed both parties to expand their networks and business avenues in support of further income-generating activities.

Gender & youth mainstreaming

Gender-mainstreaming activities were conducted alongside cooking demonstrations, nutrition-sensitive agriculture training, and dairy and poultry events across all regions. In SNNP, 2,355 (1,328 female) people, including local government partners, attended these activities.

The half-day orientation for six women in Amhara, representing three different types of organizations, concentrated on the benefits of PICS bag storage. One partner, Shayashone, also registered all three organizations as PICS bag dealers, officially allowing them to promote and distribute the products in the Gondar Zuria and South Achefer areas.

Youth forums brought together a total of 105 participants (54-Oromia and 51-SNNP) from government partners, NGOs, and youth associations to discuss employment experiences, job opportunities, access to finance, and areas of collaboration to support youth in agribusinesses.

Access to finance

Supporting women entrepreneurs access bank finance is a priority through the Women in Leadership program. Examples of successful loan applications are summarized below.

The loan for $40,214 (1.5 million ETB) from Awash Bank helped Netsanet Meaza from Tolola Dairy Farm engage in dairy farming and processing.

A loan from Enat Bank valued at $643,086 (30 million ETB) helped Getenesh Matebe Trading (Getenesh Matebe) engage in the coffee export business.

Hiber Animal Feed Processing S.C., which is owned by three young women, is in the process of getting a 600,000 ETB loan from Awash Bank to expand its feed processing business.

3.4 SUBAWARDS

The FTFE VCA subaward portfolio is a private sector-led partnership initiative designed to incentivize and support activities that improve local capacity for market systems development, reduce risk, and increase access to new technologies along the entire value chain. Partnerships emphasize the improvement of collaborative commercial relationships between farmers and agribusinesses; providing high-quality technical assistance; strategically using subawards tied to field demonstrations and training, and a rigorous program of field-based support and monitoring. During the current reporting year, seven subawards valued at $3.10 million were approved and all are being implemented except for the Humera partner fund, which was canceled due to the current conflict in Tigray.

Table 22: FY2021 approved subawards

No. Subawardee Type Value Chain Total Budget (USD)

Project Period Start End

1 Humera Milk Cooperative Union Partner Fund Dairy $ 27,982 2-Nov-20 30-Jun-21

2 HEDBEZ Business & Consultancy

Subcontract M&E/Studies $ 247,229 9-Mar-21 31-Oct-21

3 Deep Dive Research & Consulting Plc

Subcontract M&E/Studies $ 54,786 17-Mar-21 30-Sep-21

4 LM Quality Management Plc Subcontract Dairy $ 183,360 26-Feb-21 30-Sep-21

5 Deep Dive Research & Consulting Plc Subcontract M&E/Studies $ 32,796 17-Mar-21 31-May-21

6 Meat & Live Animal Tech Fund Cattle/sheep/goat $ 360,794 17-Dec-20 15-Dec-21 7 Tigray Response Tech Fund Livestock/Crops $ 2,192,611 14-Jan-21 15-Dec-21

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FTFE VCA’s subaward portfolio includes Grants Under Contract (GUC) and subcontract mechanisms. To date, over $7.17 million dollars as been expended via its GUC mechanism, which is 71 percent of its total budget. Similarly, a total of $8,030,974, or 66 percent of VCA’s subcontractor budget has been utilized. The overview of approved GUC and subcontracts budget and budget utilization is presented in Table 23 and shows an accurate record as of September 30, 2021. See Annex 3 for a list of all FTFE VCA subawards through September 2021.

Table 23: Approved and obligated subaward budget

Subawards # of

Subawards

Approved Budget (USD)

Budget Utilization

(USD)

Percentage achieved

Budget Obligated

(USD)

Percentage Obligated

(USD) GUC 34 10,072,302 7,174,449 71% 10,142,588 101% Subcontracts 24 12,211,148 8,030,974 66% 9,619,581 79% Total 58 22,283,450 15,205,424 68% 19,762,169 89%

Figure 22 provides an overview of approved GUC to date by value chain. Overall expenditure of GUC and subcontracts has now reached 71 percent and 66 percent respectively. During FY 2021, 40,209 beneficiaries, 44 percent female, benefited from the activities of private-sector partners. The support from partners to farmers includes training, field days, sales of technologies, linkage with local vendors for inputs, village-level demonstration of technologies, and improved practices.

Partner performance monitoring survey (PPMS)

FTFE VCA, through subcontracted research firm HEDBEZ Business & Consulting PLC, conducted a Partner Performance Monitoring Survey (PPMS), interviewing 51 (15 grantees and 36 DFC loan) beneficiary firms across target regions. The objective of the PPMS is to collect data on output and outcome level indicators including sales and income, finance and loans, investment, job creation, and other key indicators over FY 2021. The PPMS includes verification of data gathered from source documents, partner databases, and direct observations. The survey relied primarily on face-to-face interviews with partners and phone surveys in a handful of cases. Key documents, including sales receipts, payroll details, and contract agreements were verified from source documents. The following are key findings:

In FY2021, approximately $8.9 million in sales were recorded by grantees. The major sales products include hermetic grain storage bags, live animals, coffee, dairy products, seed, and grain (chickpea and maize), animal feed, egg, veterinary services.

FY2021 firm sales exceeded that of the previous year's sales by 39 percent. Three FTFE VCA supported grantees completed export sales valued at over $5.9 million.

The increase in sales during 2021 compared to 2020 is attributed to an increase in the number of selling firms especially for MLA, dairy, and chickpea/maize (which refer to PICS bags). Moreover, there is a high price variation between the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

As a result of expanded investment by grantees, a total of 291.5 full-time new jobs were created.

Grantees made new investments valued at $870,756, out of which 31 percent ($268,052) was covered from their funds as a cost-share. Major investment areas included production, marketing, and processing of value-added production.

27%

12%

24%

18%

9%

11%

Maize Chickpea Dairy Coffee MLA Poultry

Figure 16 : Approved GUC by Value Chain

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4. REGIONAL ACTIVITIES 4.1 REGIONAL CLOSEOUT EVENTS

FTFE VCA has organized regular field visits and review meetings with key stakeholders from the public and private sectors throughout implementation. Periodic updates and reports have also been shared with stakeholders in AGP technical and steering committee meetings and annual review workshops to update, inform, and track progress. Lessons learned were documented and shared periodically along the way highlighting successful practices and technologies that need to be scaled up to deepen outcome and impact.

With the project scaling down its operational footprint in Amhara, SNNP, and Oromia, regional closeout events were held from September 20–24, 2021 in Ambo, Hosana, Mizan, and Bahir Dar. More than 600 people, representing regional and national project staff, farmers, private sector businesses, cooperatives and unions, and key public sector offices participated in the various closeout events.

The event program had three major components: a workshop, site visits to selected field activities, and a photo exhibition. The interactive and collaborative forums provided the opportunity to discuss FTFE VCA’s work and impact and to hear testimonies from beneficiaries and stakeholders. A reflective process was initiated with key stakeholders providing testimonies of how the project has changed their business and livelihood in general. Speakers included officials from the public sector, agrodealers, crop farmers, dairy processors, Livestock Technology Centers, agribusinesses, and women’s groups.

The closeout event has proven that project impact is much more than documenting achievements and lessons learned; the site visits and the workshop allowed beneficiaries and stakeholders to formally recognize completion of the project, validate what the project has achieved, and capture successful practices, technologies, and methodologies. Participants consistently described the successful project closure as one that led to the sustainability of activities and services for the beneficiary communities through handover to local entities. Major regional achievements are summarized in the infographics on the following pages.

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ETHIOPIA VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITY FY2021AMHARA

PROJECT BENEFICIARIES

GROSS MARGIN

YIELD OF TARGETEDAGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

The percentage of women consuming a diet of minimum diversity increased to 63%

compared to 33% at baseline.

2 agribusinesses accessed more than $264,000 in financing

through the Development Finance Corporation and other sources.

As a result of FTFE VCA, the private sector invested more

than $1.1 million in support of nutrition & food security.

373 jobs were created with the help of FTFE VCA,

121 of which wereheld by women.

FTFE VCA supported firms generated $9.9 million in

sales during FY2021.

6% increase over FY2020, from 4.7 tons to 5 tons per hectare

11% increaseover FY2020

Maize Milk

26% increaseover FY2020

87% increaseover FY2020

117% increase over FY2020, from $35 to $76 per animal

Maize Goat Sheep

Male Female

KEY

Amhara Oromia SNNP Tigray0

200,000

100,000

150,000

50,00028,045 females

73,130 males

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ETHIOPIA VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITY FY2021OROMIA

PROJECT BENEFICIARIES

GROSS MARGIN

YIELD OF TARGETEDAGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

The percentage of women consuming a diet of minimum diversity increased to 67%

compared to 35% at baseline.

6 agribusinesses accessed more than $382,000 in financing

through the Development Finance Corporation and other sources.

As a result of FTFE VCA, the private sector invested more

than $1 million in support of nutrition & food security.

1,851 jobs were created with the help of FTFE VCA, 709 of which were held by women.

FTFE VCA supported firms generated $36 million in sales during FY2021.

41% increaseover FY2020

Male Female

KEY

Amhara Oromia SNNP Tigray0

200,000

100,000

150,000

50,00036,514 females

91,541 males

Chickpea

80% increaseover FY2020

Chickpea

FTFE VCA assisted in the export of more than $17 million worth of coffee and $6.5 million worth of live animals.

The Cup of Excellence competition generated more than $600,000 in sales, at an average price of $42/kg.

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ETHIOPIA VALUE CHAIN ACTIVITY FY2021SNNP

PROJECT BENEFICIARIES

GROSS MARGIN

YIELD OF TARGETEDAGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

The percentage of women consuming a diet of minimum diversity increased to 87%

compared to 25% at baseline.

4 agribusinesses accessed more than $787,000 in financing

through the Development Finance Corporation and other sources.

As a result of FTFE VCA, the private sector invested more

than $2.9 million in support of nutrition & food security.

2,656 jobs were created with the help of FTFE VCA, 947 of which were held by women.

FTFE VCA supported firms generated $6.6 million in sales during FY2021.

Male Female

KEY

Amhara Oromia SNNP Tigray0

200,000

100,000

150,000

50,00035.261 females

56.621 males

61% increaseover FY2020

Maize

FTFE VCA assisted in the export of nearly $14 million worth of coffee.

The Cup of Excellence competition generated more than $1.3 million in sales, at an average price of $74/kg.

66% increase over FY2020

32% increaseover FY2020

Maize Milk

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4.2 TIGRAY REGION

Since the start of military conflict across the Tigray region in early November 2020, the resulting humanitarian crisis has been growing in scale affecting all of Tigray and neighboring areas of Amhara and Afar. Although the intensity of the fighting has varied over time, the overall impact in terms of human suffering, destruction of property, and complete breakdown of normal life have been profound.

FTFE VCA was forced to revise its regional annual work plan and initiate its Tigray Response Plan in December 2020 with a Technology Fund specifically dedicated to supporting vulnerable farming communities. Interventions built on previous initiatives in the region but with priority on recovering damaged production and market systems impacting the private sector.

A strategic decision was also made through a consultative process involving the regional Bureau of Agricultural Resource Development (BoARD) and USAID to direct resources and implement the Response Plan in relatively safe and accessible woredas. The pre-conflict geographic coverage across 23 woredas was scaled back by excluding the zones of Central, North Western, Humera, and Western Tigray. The resulting operational areas in Eastern, South Eastern, and Southern zones involved the six woredas of K/awlaelo, T/wenberta, Enderta, Hintalo, R/azebo, and R/chercher, and Mekelle city as shown in the map.

During the first half of 2021, much-needed agricultural inputs, particularly improved maize and chickpea seed varieties and fertilizer were supplied to smallholders. Livestock feed and basic technologies were also facilitated for semi-commercial and commercial poultry growers, feedlots, and dairy farms. Market linkages were facilitated to revive depressed input and output markets. Many of the agriculture inputs and technologies were procured from Addis Ababa and transported to Mekelle with beneficiary selection, distribution and documentation closely coordinated with woreda level officials, MCCs, dairy demonstration sites, CIGs, user groups, agrodealers, cooperatives, and unions.

Figure 17: Implementation woredas in Tigray

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Agribusiness & Capacity Building

Provided technical and material support to nine agrodealers to renovate their shops and improve the efficiency of input supply and services to farmers. In addition, three solar energies and one backup generator were installed for four agrodealers.

Transaction data obtained from Seyemti Adyabo, Tesfaye Siyoum and Yalem Teame indicates that agrodealers supplied agricultural inputs and agrochemicals to the value of $1,418 (ETB 638,302) in the last three months of 2020.

G/kiros Kebede is a feedlot operator engaged in cattle fattening in Genete kebele of R/azebo woreda. He started the fattening business in 2020 with just two cattle. Thanks to VCA assistance, G/kiros was able to upgrade his barn, allowing him to expand and undertake fattening on a commercial scale. Despite the loss of some of his cows due to the current conflict, the technical advice, material support, and continued encouragement from VCA gave him extra energy to continue his fattening enterprise. Over the past few months, G/kiros has sold 13 cattle and 52 sheep. He is a lead farmer where his feedlot site has already attracted 11 other fatteners to “copy” the practice.

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Two other agrodealers - Maeruf in R/azebo and Bethelhem in E/mekoni - are functioning at an optimal level while the remaining four are running below capacity for lack of supplies.

Training on business development to 60 commercial pullet growers and egg producers (21 female) and 8 extension staff to motivate as much as to improve management and biosecurity practices.

Nutrition

Delivered field-based training on vegetable gardening and seedlings and agricultural tools to 175 female farmers selected from eight kebeles of Enderta and K/awlalelo woredas.

Key messages on improving diets were conveyed through SBCC materials (1,500 posters and 2,500 brochure); basic health messaging on COVID-19 was also communicated to farmers.

Cooking demonstrations were conducted using locally available food products for diet diversification and improved nutrition.

Nutrition messaging mainstreamed to 16,399 (6,286 female) farmers who received hybrid maize seed and fertilizer in K/alwleo, Ts/wonberta, R/azebo, R/chercher, Enderta, and Hintalo woredas and another 68 commercial poultry producers from Mekelle and Wukro (21 female).

Women & Youth

Provided a ToT-based training on transformative household methodology (THM) in R/azebo, Enderta, and K/awlaelo woredas for 157 farmers, including 82 group leaders and 23 partners who cascaded the knowledge to 1,575 fellow farmers (548 female).

Provided positive youth development (PYD) and gender equality training to 29 extension staff (6 female) from K/awlaelo, Ts/wenberta, R/azebo, R/chercher, and Enderta woredas.

Organized experience-sharing visits to selected farms for 50 women and youth beneficiaries (32 female) engaged in dairy value chain activities. The event has also attracted 10 extension staff (4 female) drawn from woreda offices.

Provided leadership and assertiveness training to 62 women leaders from cooperatives and CIGs.

Provided material support, mainly household items such as dishes, cooking utensils, sanitary materials to 49 women poultry and dairy beneficiaries selected from K/awlaelo, Enderta, and R/azebo woredas.

150 mentees provided technical support to the neediest families in their neighborhood.

Practical training using THM method

Feed distrubition in Tigray

Behafta Gebremeskel is a commercial egg producer in K/Awlaelo woreda. Behafta ventured into the poultry business just before the conflict supplying the market up to 450 eggs/day. However, due to the conflict her business took a downward turn, loosing up to half of her egg laying birds due to feed shortages and thefts. Thankfully, VCA was able to step in and provide material and technical support including a feeder, drinker and feed for the egg laying chicken which has helped her to recover lost ground. “When the conflict started, I left the chicken without anyone attending them and with little feed. When I come back, half of my chicks were either dead or lost and I was seriously considering to disengage from the business altogether. But thanks to the support I am getting from VCA, I have changed my mind and am still investing in the poultry business.

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Monitoring & Evaluation

Surveyed 89 commercial producers, 90 smallholders, and 28 key informants to assess the level of conflict-induced losses and map strategies to support businesses.

Conducted routine data collection, including sales from value chain beneficiaries, conduct DQA, and clean data before recording in the CIRIS database.

Facilitated the USAID Endline Survey using a telephone survey methodology (CATI).

Presented regional FTFE VCA annual performance (2012 EFY) report to the Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development and presented key achievements and challenges to partners at coordination meetings.

Regional Coordination & Collaboration

The FTFE VCA regional office in Mekelle continues to play an active role in the regional agricultural advisory group meetings and the regional task force and agricultural advisory group meetings updating partners and stakeholders on the progress and challenges in implementation to strengthen partnership and collaboration. The regional office has also taken the initiative to convene a working group of USAID partners, including CARE, SNV, REST, and GTN. Other key activities include the following:

Presented Year Four-Performance and Year Five-Annual Work plan to AGP, the regional Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau, and the respective woreda offices and conducted discussions at various levels.

Actively engaged woreda office of agriculture and AGP as well as cooperative unions to play the lead role in beneficiary selection for the provision of materials, inputs, and technologies and the conduct of field-level activities. This approach is expected to allow ownership and improve sustainability.

Prepared and presented the regional ‘Response Plan’ and associated implementation strategy to the regional stakeholders to improve coordination for a synergetic approach.

Proactively participated in the weekly meeting of the regional agricultural task force organized by the BoARD.

Participated in various workshops initiated by partners and stakeholders, including the one on market linkage in Meat and Live Animal organized by Tigray Agricultural Marketing Promotion Agency (TAMPA) and shared FTFE VCA’s experiences.

Undeterred by lack of fuel and travel challenges, the regional team coordinated field travel with the extension teams from BoARD to provide technical follow-up and advisory support to beneficiaries located in less accessible kebeles.

Next steps

Unfortunately, since July 2021, the conflict situation in Tigray has become much more intense and extensive. This has severely reduced the flow of humanitarian aid, stopped any commercial truck transport into Tigray, blocked all regular flights, and suspended essential services like fuel, banking, and communications. Fortunately, the FTFE VCA staff remain safe and they have continued to demonstrate remarkable commitment by keeping the office functions open and maintaining essential technical support in the field whenever and wherever possible. Upcoming activities include:

2,800 qtl of livestock feed is stored in Addis and awaiting commercial truck transport services to Mekelle.

The residual budget of $700,000 from the Tigray Technology Fund is available for rapid re-stocking of inputs once the situation allows.

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5. MONITORING & EVALUATION The Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) team maintained an eventful schedule throughout FY2021 with the following activities.

Conducted a women’s dietary diversity survey with support from local data collection firm Deep Dive Research & Consulting PLC. The survey included 780 female participants and covered women’s knowledge, attitude, and practices toward consumption, dietary diversity, and the pandemic’s impact.

Completed the annual performance monitoring survey to inform indicator-based results.

Conducted a partner performance monitoring survey (PPMS) with business managers and owners, including 51 partners to assess sales, finance and loans, investment, and job creation.

Completed more than 550 interviews for the final postharvest loss survey.

Conducted assessment of the support for milk collection centers (MCC) to generate an evidence-based analysis for decision making, document lessons, and propose recommendations for future improvement. The study was conducted by Deep Dive Research & Consulting PLC targeting 60 fully operational MCCs. The findings indicated a significant positive change in terms of volume and value of milk collected and sold, quality of milk collected, number of producers supplying milk, and other areas of the dairy business.

Conducted in-house assessment of agrodealer support targeting 20 sites involved in Phase 1 support Technology Fund. The study used a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions. The assessment indicated that agrodealers have increased the quality and coverage of their services, which resulted in achieving significantly higher sales than before the support.

Completed a detailed routine data quality assessment (RDQA) focusing on selected performance indicators. Based on the RDQA findings and recommendations, the MEL team took corrective action and thus improved the quality of beneficiary data.

Conducted a post-conflict assessment in Tigray during early 2021 to determine the extent of the effect of the initial stage of the war (November-December 2020) on FTFE VCA beneficiaries and define specific and priority needs of the beneficiaries. Based on this assessment, and to address vulnerable farmers, FTFE VCA developed the Tigray Response Plan. Unfortunately, various stages of conflict have continued in Tigray during 2021.

Collaborated with and supported the end-line evaluation team commissioned by USAID. Collaboration included providing all requested documentation, technical reviews of evaluation tools, facilitation of the evaluation in the field, and review of survey results and final presentations.

Organized AGP II Stakeholder’s Review meetings and experience sharing visits at regional levels involving senior government officials from the region, zone, and woreda levels.

Survey interview for women dietary diversity survey in Amhara

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5.1 ROUTINE MONITORING

In FY2021, FTFE VCA reached 82,258 beneficiaries (43 percent female) who directly benefited through various interventions across all six core value chains. To date, FTFE VCA activities have reached 364,649 beneficiaries (32 percent female cumulatively). This achievement represents 122 percent of the life of the project target of 300,000 beneficiaries.

The distribution of beneficiaries across value chains in FY2021 shows maize accounting for the greatest share (25 percent) followed by dairy (13 percent), while the nutrition team led by Banyan Global reached 18 percent of all beneficiaries during the year. Cumulatively, maize and dairy remain the most significant contributors to the FTFE VCA beneficiary population (32 and 21 percent, respectively).

The cumulative share of beneficiaries by region remains as expected given the implementation plan, with Oromia accounting for 35 percent of the beneficiary population. Despite the continuing unrest, 16 percent of the beneficiaries reached in FY2021 were from Tigray, and Tigray accounts for 11 percent of the cumulative beneficiary population.

5.2 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE MONITORING SURVEY

The FTFE VCA MEL team, with the support of local research firm HEDBEZ Business & Consultancy PLC (HEDBEZ), conducted the fourth annual performance monitoring survey (APMS) in July and August 2021. The study involved a quantitative sample survey of beneficiary producers.1 The study had the following objectives:

Understand the agro-economic reality faced by FTFE VCA beneficiary farmers.

Collect evidence on how the activity is addressing key challenges and thus improving farmers’ earning potential by reducing crop loss, barriers to market entry, and other limitations.

Identify successes and challenges to draw lessons for future similar intervention.

Methodology

The FY2021 APMS involved a quantitative method of data collection aimed at generating results for key

1 FTFE VCA direct beneficiaries involved in crops (maize, chickpea, coffee), poultry and livestock (dairy and MLA) value chains.

Figure 18: Cumulative share of beneficiaries by region and value chain

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performance indicators. The questionnaire was developed following the performance indicator reference sheets (PIRS) relevant to FTFE VCA and the study’s objectives. The final English questionnaire was translated into Amharic, Afaan-Oromo, and Tigrigna languages.

The APMS used a two-stage cluster sample design with a systematic selection of participants for the quantitative data collection, equivalent to survey design option 1 of the Feed the Future Participant-Based Survey guidance document. All six value chains and the four regions were included in the sample design using a proportional sampling method, however, Tigray was later excluded from the sample due to the security situation which made access to the region and face-to-face interviews impossible. The original sample size of roughly 3,000 beneficiaries, of which approximately 340 would be located in Tigray, was redistributed such that each cluster would interview one additional beneficiary for cost-effectiveness. Once data collection was complete, FTFE VCA MEL reviewed the dataset for completeness, accuracy, and precision. The final sample size after data cleaning was 2,988.

Table 24: Sample size and data

Chickpea Coffee Maize Meat &

Live Animals

Poultry Milk Total

Amhara 209 31 270 110 146 183 949 Oromia 202 286 279 156 145 269 1,337 SNNP 215 127 149 66 145 702 Total 411 532 676 415 357 597 2,988

Key Results

Key results from the FY2021 APMS are summarized below by value chains. The FY2021 results are also compared with the previous year and reasons for major deviations are explained when necessary. In general, the APMS results show a surprising level of variation (both positive and negative) between FY2021 and FY2020 attributed to the relatively differing economic environments. Economic factors such as the steady depreciation of the Ethiopian Birr, shortages of foreign exchange, and excessive mark-ups on imported items significantly increased costs of production in 2021 across all sectors. The volatile security situation across several intervention woreda had a particularly significant disruption on perishable livestock products and live animal trade. The data for specific results also provides a more in-depth explanation as follows.

Figure 19: Household samples for FTFE VCA Annual Survey (2021)

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Table 25: Farmer’s gross margin and yield for crop value chains

Indicator Value Chain FY2021 Results

% Change FY2020 Results Units

Farmer's gross margin per hectare obtained with USG assistance

Chickpea 1,214 67% 726

USD / Ha Coffee 755 -10% 841 Maize 867 32% 656

Yield of targeted agricultural commodities among program participants with USG assistance

Chickpea 1.43 42% 1.01

MT / Ha Coffee 0.47 12% 0.42

Maize 4.29 18% 3.65

Maize: In FY2021, maize producers generated additional income per hectare of maize, with gross margin increasing 32 percent from $656 (FY2020) to $867 (FY2021) per hectare. This increase is attributed to an 18 percent increase in yield coupled with a 50 percent increase in price, which helped cushion farmers from the steep increases in input costs.

Chickpea: During FY2021, chickpea yield has shown a 42 percent increase over FY2020 partly due to supply of improved seeds. Productivity gains combined with the continued increasing trend in prices (prices increased 20 percent between FY2021 and FY2020) contributed positively to gross margin per hectare. In just two years, producers have more than doubled their income from chickpea ($1,214 in FY2021 compared with $575 in FY2019).

Coffee: Coffee productivity increased just over 10 percent between FY2021 and FY2020, from 422 kg/ha to 473 kg/ha due primarily to improved management practices and relatively favorable climate. Unfortunately, the 21 percent increase in unit cost per hectare from labor and inputs have contributed to a lower gross margin than expected.

Table 26: Farmer’s gross margin and yield for livestock value chains

Indicator Value Chain FY2021 Results Change

FY2020 Results Unit

Farmer's gross margin per animal obtained with USG assistance

Cattle 209 -3% 216

USD / Animal Goats 28 22% 23 Sheep 39 50% 26 Poultry 0.35 -84% 2.32 Milk 486 -20% 605

Yield of targeted agricultural commodities among program participants with USG assistance

Cattle 124.06 -14% 144.68

Kg / Animal Goats 6.78 -25% 8.99 Sheep 8.56 3% 8.35 Poultry 0.67 -36% 1.04

Milk 1,415 18% 1,198 Liters/Animal/yr

Milk: The 18 percent increase in FY2021 productivity of milk over the previous year is due largely to the prevalence of improved breeds in dairy herds and better feeding practices using locally-sourced by-products: 77 percent of cows milked during FY2021 were improved breeds, versus 65 percent in FY2020. The costs of production/liter increased by an alarming 59 percent reflecting sharp increases in concentrate feed and veterinary medicines. In turn, these cost increases negatively impacted the gross margins.

Sheep & Goat: Producers of sheep and goat saw favorable improvements to their gross margin income mainly due to the prevailing record-high meat prices throughout 2021. However, the decline in

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yield/animal reflects the response of farmers to cut back on use of concentrate feed and the parallel pressure on grazing land access in the community.

Poultry: The VCA beneficiaries in the poultry sector have been encouraged to adopt a semi-intensive and fully-commercial productions system, using upgraded infrastructure and modern management practices. The reliance on a full package of inputs including affordable concentrate feed (80% of production cost) and essential vaccinations has become a difficult challenge for many producers during 2021. Input supplies have become erratic with unpredictable cost increases. Farmers have been forced to cut back on the level of inputs, reduce flock sizes, and attempt to stay in business. The subsequent reduction in yield/bird of 36% had a devastating impact on gross margin which declined by 84%.

Cattle: The main target group for cattle production are SME fattening businesses using a feedlot system linked to wholesale markets. As with other livestock sectors, the challenges with providing consistent and cost-effective ration formulations have placed severe downward pressure on animal productivity. Live Weight Gain has reduced in many instances as farmers cut back on the premium ingredients. Fortunately, the prevailing high market prices cushioned producers from the full impact with slight decrease in gross margin. 

5.3 POSTHARVEST LOSS

In August 2021, FTFE VCA surveyed 558 farmers to determine the impact the project has had on postharvest loss, particularly among chickpea and maize producers. For FTFE VCA, postharvest loss consists of two components: 1) quantitative loss: the volume of the commodity that is lost entirely; and 2) qualitative loss: the volume of the commodity that is degraded/deteriorated but can be salvaged for use as animal feed, seed, or sale at a discounted price. Postharvest loss is one component of a farmer’s total production, which also considers quantities consumed, sold, given away, or otherwise utilized.

Maize: Losses totaled 5.6 percent of total production across maize producers, and were nearly equally quantitative and qualitative. The majority of quantitative losses occur before bagging, during harvesting, threshing, cleaning, and drying. The promotion of hermetic storage technology, especially PICS bags, helped to reduce losses associated with storage.

Chickpea: Across the sample of 151 Ethiopian chickpea producers, respondents noted losses totaling approximately 6 percent of total chickpea production, the majority were quantitative losses associated with traditional techniques for threshing, cleaning, and drying. While qualitative losses were less significant, respondents in focus group discussions noted the majority of losses were associated with improper drying techniques.

Coffee: Across the sample of 101 Ethiopian coffee farmers, respondents noted losses totaling approximately 5 percent of total coffee production. These losses were smaller in SNNP (4.7 percent) compared to losses in Oromia (5.1 percent). The overall coffee losses declined from 7.9 percent in FY2018 to 5 percent in FY2021 (35 percent decrease).

5.4 PARTNER PERFORMANCE MONITORING SURVEY (PPMS)

FTFE VCA, through subcontracted research firm HEDBEZ Business & Consulting PLC, conducted a Partner Performance Monitoring Survey (PPMS) interviewing a total of 51 grantees and DFC loan beneficiary firms across all three regions. The objective of the PPMS is to collect data on output and outcome level indicators including sales and income, finance and loans, investment, job creation, and other key indicators over FY2020. The survey relied primarily on face-to-face interviews with partners and phone surveys in a handful of cases. Key documents, including sales receipts, payroll details, and contract agreements were verified from source documents. Copies of sample source documents were also gathered from partners. The following are key findings from the survey:

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In FY2020, approximately $54.1 million in sales were recorded by FTFE VCA supported grantees, DFC loan beneficiary firms, and technology fund supported micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across all value chains. The major sales products include coffee, raw and processed, live animals, hermetic storage technologies (HST), and improved seed.

Some FTFE VCA supported firms completed export sales valued at over $37.5 million, the majority of which were coffee exports.

Clients and counterparts made new investments valued at over $6.4 million, of which 62 percent ($3.94 million) was the investment leveraged by clients. Major investment areas included production, marketing, and processing of value-added production.

As a result of the expanded investment, a total of 1,090 full-time equivalents (FTE) new jobs were created in FY2021. In addition, FTFE VCA’s support provided the opportunity for 3,791 existing FTE jobs to continue throughout the year, providing for a total of 4,881 jobs (36 percent held by females). Key temporary and permanent job opportunities were in project management, technical production positions, processing and marketing, sales, loading and unloading, coffee drying and cleaning, and livestock management among others.

Impact of COVID-19 survey. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to affect travel and limited many business activities. FTFE VCA adjusted both the APMS and PPMS survey instruments to incorporate timely questions to assess the ongoing impact of the pandemic. The results indicated COVID-19 has negatively affected both the production and marketing business of smallholder beneficiary farmers and agribusiness firms who were disproportionately negatively affected. However, the effect of the pandemic is lesser in FY2021 as compared to the previous year due to adaptation measures taken.

5.5 LEARNING & ADAPTING

Year 5 has continued with challenging external developments similar to year 4 including the global pandemic and countrywide security issues that have adversely impacted the implementation of planned activities. The conflict in Tigray is a special situation in year 5 that started early in the fiscal year and which negatively affected activity implementation in the region. Nonetheless, FTFE VCA has managed to adapt, achieving commendable results. Some of the key lessons are as follows.

Use of a hybrid data collection method is crucial given the limitations to conducting face-to-face interviews; this method was successfully deployed in years 4 and 5.

For some value chains like coffee, interventions aimed at increasing productivity require more time to generate quantifiable impact. For example, it takes around three years for a coffee seedling to mature and produce its first fruit while renovated coffee trees require two to three years to bear fruit.

The conflict in Tigray has challenged not only the implementation of technical activities but also the MEL to conduct annual surveys and hence Tigray was excluded from the sample. The Tigray Response Plan and implementation have continued targeting new and relatively secure woredas in the region. Hence the lesson is the need for flexible project management in case of such external factors.

Overcoming the impact of COVID-19 is a primary area of engagement to prevent firms from going out of business. FTFE VCA continues to support firms to increase their resilience. Examples include rescheduling deliverables and adjusting loan repayment periods, and facilitating additional loans through the DFC and no-cost extensions of the partnership agreement.

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ANNEX I. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Indicator Disaggregate Baseline Year 5 LOP/Cumulative Achievement

Unit Year Value Change Result Target Achieved Result Target Achieved

Purpose: Improve the Performance of the Agricultural Sector

1 Number of individuals participating in USG food security programs

0 n/a 85,690 68,720 125% 375,183 310,000 121% Individuals

2 Number of direct project beneficiaries 0 n/a 364,649 300,000 122% 364,649 300,000 122% Beneficiaries

3 Number of indirect project beneficiaries 0 n/a 1,241,519 1,200,000 103% 3,700,711 1,200,000 308%

4

Farmer's gross margin per hectare, per animal or per cage obtained with USG assistance

Chickpea 2018 616 97% 1,214 709 171% 1,214 709 171%

USD / Ha Coffee 2018 1,307 -42% 755 1,503 50% 755 1,503 50%

Maize 2018 477 82% 867 548 158% 867 548 158%

Cattle 2018 179 17% 209 206 101% 209 206 101%

USD / Animal

Goats 2018 18 56% 28 20 140% 28 20 140%

Sheep 2018 29 34% 39 33 118% 39 33 118%

Poultry 2019 2.51 -86% 0.35 2.89 12% 0.35 2.89 12%

Milk 2018 267 82% 486 307 158% 486 307 158%

5 Average household net income from targeted agricultural commodities

2018 1,272 107% 2,639 1,463 180% 2,639 1,463 180% 180%

Sub-Purpose 1: Increase Nutrition-Sensitive Productivity of Targeted Value Chains Inclusive of Women and Youth

6

Yield of targeted agricultural commodities among program participants with USG assistance

Chickpea 2018 1.08 32% 1.43 1.30 110% 1.43 1.30 110%

MT / Ha Coffee 2018 0.65 -28% 0.47 0.78 60% 0.47 0.78 60%

Maize 2018 3.25 32% 4.29 3.90 110% 4.29 3.90 110%

Cattle 2018 188.73 -34% 124.06 230.25 54% 124.06 230.25 54%

Kg / Animal Goats 2018 9.93 -32% 6.78 12.11 56% 6.78 12.11 56%

Sheep 2018 11.36 -25% 8.56 13.86 62% 8.56 13.86 62%

Poultry 2019 1.34 -50% 0.67 1.63 41% 0.67 1.63 41%

Milk 2018 982 44% 1,415 1,178 120% 1,415 1,178 120% Liters / Animal / Year

Output 1.2: Expanded Use of Improved Technologies and Practices by Male and Female Smallholders Including Youth

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Indicator Disaggregate Baseline Year 5 LOP/Cumulative Achievement

Unit Year Value Change Result Target Achieved Result Target Achieved

7

Value of inputs purchased by smallholder farmers, disaggregated by women, men, and youth as a result of USG assistance

2018 9.3 n/a 43.8 11.2 391% 90.3 33.6 269% USD (Million)

8

Number of kebeles which have direct input supply systems, including the expansion of the Direct Seed Marketing Program, as a result of USG assistance

0 n/a 1,369 660 207% 1,529 660 232% Kebeles

Output 1.2: Expanded Use of Improved Technologies and Practices by Male and Female Smallholders Including Youth

9

Number of individuals in the agriculture system who have applied improved management practices or technologies with USG assistance

2018 32,149 n/a 169,049 188,286 90% 169,049 188,286 90% Individuals

10

Number of hectares under improved management practices or technologies with USG assistance

2018 12,656 n/a 92,509 74,123 125% 92,509 74,123 125% Hectares

11

Number of individuals who have received USG-supported short-term agricultural sector productivity or food security training

0 n/a 46,105 47,000 98% 282,028 236,000 120% Individuals

Output 1.3: Increased Availability of, Access to, and Consumption of Safe, Diverse Foods

12

Percentage of female participants of USG nutrition-sensitive agriculture activities consuming a diet of minimum diversity

2018 30.8 135% 72.3 40.0 181% 72.3 40.0 181% Percent

13

Number of individuals receiving nutrition-related professional training through USG-supported programs

0 n/a 2,100 500 420% 6,481 4,000 162% Individuals

Sub-Purpose 2: Strengthened Inclusive Market Systems and Trade

14

Value of annual sales of farms and firms receiving USG assistance

Farms

Chickpea 2018 0.44 n/a 6.56 2.07 317% 12.97 8.19 158%

USD (Million)

Coffee 2018 3.95 n/a 25.43 10.35 246% 63.83 31.46 203%

Maize 2018 2.64 n/a 23.71 7.03 337% 46.39 29.26 159%

Cattle 2018 18.55 n/a 31.55 9.82 321% 95.21 55.93 170%

Goats 2018 0.50 n/a 0.31 0.50 62% 1.86 2.25 83%

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Indicator Disaggregate Baseline Year 5 LOP/Cumulative Achievement

Unit Year Value Change Result Target Achieved Result Target Achieved

Sheep 2018 1.54 n/a 2.80 1.42 197% 7.46 4.02 186%

Poultry 2019 0.33 n/a 3.50 0.49 714% 6.98 0.94 743%

Milk 2018 3.16 n/a 33.39 6.45 518% 70.57 31.29 226%

Firms

Chickpea 2019 0.00 n/a 0.21 0.00 n/a 0.22 0.00 n/a

USD (Million)

Coffee 2019 0.80 n/a 19.02 0.97 1961% 45.71 1.85 2471%

Maize 2019 0.00 n/a 0.00 n/a 0.74 0.00 n/a 0.00

Live animals (cattle, goat, sheep)

2019 0.19 n/a 9.72 0.00 n/a 9.72 0.00 n/a

Poultry 2019 0.00 n/a 0.85 0.00 n/a 2.43 0.00 n/a

Milk 2018 0.02 n/a 10.99 0.74 1485% 19.07 1.45 1315%

Egg 2019 0.00 n/a 0.68 0.00 n/a 1.52 0.00 n/a

Other non-durable inputs, such as fertilizer and pesticides

2018 0.02 n/a 5.13 2.42 212% 9.48 4.23 224%

Production support services

2017 0.10 n/a 0.15 0.15 100% 0.20 0.30 67%

Post-harvest storage and processing equipment

2018 0.01 n/a 2.00 1.09 183% 3.06 2.91 105%

Durable equipment and machinery

2018 0.00 n/a 0.13 0.34 38% 0.20 0.51 39%

Processed products/value added products

2019 0.00 n/a 2.18 0.00 n/a 2.60 0.00 n/a

Seeds and planting material

2019 0.00 n/a 3.07 0.00 n/a 3.19 0.00 n/a

Output 2.1: Strengthened Market Access & Organization of the Market System

15

Postharvest loss at farm gate (% of harvest)

Chickpea 2018 8.0 -25% 6.0 4.8 n/a 6.0 4.8 n/a

Percent Coffee 2018 7.7 -36% 4.9 1.7 n/a 4.9 1.7 n/a

Maize 2018 13.4 -58% 5.6 4.3 n/a 5.6 4.3 n/a

Chickpea 2018 68.7 -30% 47.9 79.0 61% 47.9 79.0 61% Percent

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Indicator Disaggregate Baseline Year 5 LOP/Cumulative Achievement

Unit Year Value Change Result Target Achieved Result Target Achieved

16

Proportion of production sold by targeted beneficiaries for selected products

Coffee 2018 57.7 52% 87.8 60.6 145% 87.8 60.6 145%

Maize 2018 50.6 1% 51.0 58.2 88% 51.0 58.2 88%

Goats 2018 76.3 -54% 35.4 87.7 40% 35.4 87.7 40%

Sheep 2018 82.2 -75% 20.4 94.6 22% 20.4 94.6 22%

Poultry 2019 89.6 -65% 31.5 95.9 33% 31.5 95.9 33%

Milk 2018 79.3 -54% 36.7 91.2 40% 36.7 91.2 40%

Output 2.2: Increased Access to Financial & Other Supporting Services

17

Value of new USG commitments and private sector investment leveraged by the USG to support food security and nutrition

0.00 n/a 6.35 1.37 464% 30.46 13.56 225% USD (Million)

18

Value of agriculture-related financing accessed as a result of USG assistance

0.00 n/a 2.48 0.78 318% 9.82 6.38 154% USD (Million)

Output 2.3: Increased Access to Non-Financial Supporting Services

19

Number of private sector advisory service associations/groups supported in target woredas

0 n/a 287 192 149% 287 192 149% Associations / Groups

Output 2.4: Strengthened Lead Firms, Including Agribusinesses, Agro-processors, and Farmer Cooperative Unions (FCUs)

20

Number of firms (excluding farms) or civil society organizations (CSOs) engaged in agricultural and food security-related manufacturing and services that have increased profits or become financially self-sufficient with USG assistance

0 n/a 36 5 720% 82 40 205% Firms/ CSOs

21

Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs created with USG assistance

0 n/a 4,881 2,500 195% 4,881 2,500 195% FTE Jobs

Output 2.5: Increased Trade in Domestic, Regional and International Markets

22

Value of targeted agricultural commodities exported

Chickpea 0.00 n/a 0.00 0.50 0% 0.00 2.70 0%

USD (Million)

Coffee 0.00 n/a 31.00 3.30 939% 46.77 9.90 472%

Maize 0.00 n/a 0.00 0.00 n/a 0.00 1.70 0%

Cattle 0.00 n/a 5.89 1.00 589% 6.80 3.15 216%

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Indicator Disaggregate Baseline Year 5 LOP/Cumulative Achievement

Unit Year Value Change Result Target Achieved Result Target Achieved

with USG assistance

Goats 0.00 n/a 0.32 0.12 267% 0.32 0.36 89%

Sheep 0.00 n/a 0.34 0.53 64% 0.99 1.68 59%

PICS Bag 0.00 n/a 0.00 0.00 n/a 0.13 0.00 n/a

23

Volume of targeted agricultural commodities exported

Chickpea 0.00 n/a 0.00 0.77 0% 0.00 5.31 0%

MT (Thousands)

Coffee 0.00 n/a 9.27 1.43 648% 13.25 4.37 303%

Maize 0.00 n/a 0.00 0.00 n/a 0.00 15.00 0%

Cattle 0.00 n/a 1.86 0.60 310% 2.01 88.78 2%

Goats 0.00 n/a 0.05 0.11 45% 0.05 5.17 1%

Sheep 0.00 n/a 0.11 0.50 22% 1.63 8.64 19%

PICS Bag 0.00 n/a 0.00 0.00 n/a 250,000 0.00 n/a Bags

24

Number of commercial partnerships or market contracts signed between producer groups or cooperatives (supported by the program) and domestic/international agribusiness actors (processors, wholesalers, retailers, exporters, etc.) for selected value chains

0 n/a 96 60 160% 1,326 145 914% Partnerships / Contracts

Sub-Purpose 3: Improved Enabling Environment In Support Of Agricultural Transformation

Output 3.1: Strengthened Capacity of MoANR and Improved Cooperation With ATA At Federal, Regional, and Local Levels For Developing, Implementing, and Monitoring Policies

25

Number of agricultural and nutritional enabling environment policies analyzed, consulted on, drafted or revised, approved and implemented with USG assistance

0 n/a 2 0 n/a 10 10 100% Policies

Output 3.2: Strengthened Public and Private Sector Dialogue Related to Policy Review and Implementation

26

Number of agricultural and nutritional enabling environment policies analyzed, consulted on, drafted or revised, approved and implemented with USG assistance

0 n/a 5 0 n/a 12 10 120% Policies

27

Number of agricultural and nutritional enabling environment policies analyzed,

0 n/a 3 0 n/a 14 7 200% Policies

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Indicator Disaggregate Baseline Year 5 LOP/Cumulative Achievement

Unit Year Value Change Result Target Achieved Result Target Achieved

consulted on, drafted or revised, approved and implemented with USG assistance

Cross Cutting

28

Number of hectares under improved management practices or technologies that promote improved climate risk reduction and/or natural resources management with USG assistance

2018 10,279 n/a 80,980 63,462 128% 80,980 63,462 128% Hectares

29

Percentage of participants in USG-assisted programs designed to increase access to productive economic resources who are youth (15-29)

0.0 n/a 24.6 25.0 98% 22.2 25.0 89% Percent

30

Percentage of female participants in USG-assisted programs designed to increase access to productive economic resources

0.0 n/a 43.5 30.0 145% 31.8 30.0 106% Percent

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ANNEX II. SUCCESS STORIES Increasing access to the best coffee variety

Despite its reputation as the birthplace of coffee, the majority of coffee trees in Ethiopia, especially those managed by smallholder producers, suffer from low yields and poor agronomic practices. With a large number of the country’s trees planted nearly 30 years ago, yields remain low as older trees produce less fruit and eventually pass a point of no return. In 2019, coffee yields in Ethiopia were on average 61 percent below that of Brazil (the world’s number one coffee producer) and 29 percent below average global yield. Lack of access to improved seedlings and a concern that new coffee trees take three years to bear fruit mean farmers are generally unable and unwilling to upgrade their production. Additionally, most farmers do not possess the technical knowledge or skills to sustainably rejuvenate their coffee trees to boost production. It takes up to five years for a newly planted coffee tree to reach its full potential of production. Most experts agree that newly planted trees from high-yielding suitable varieties could increase coffee production up to 20 percent per tree.

In response to these problems and opportunities, Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity (FTFE VCA) began providing support to smallholder coffee farmers in 2017 to upgrade coffee quality and consistency, strengthen access to export markets, and enhance the producer-buyer relationship to promote premium-grade sales.

A main strategy of the coffee team was to improve smallholder access to quality inputs, particularly seedlings, to ensure better quality from the onset of the production cycle. As such, FTFE VCA began working with coffee nurseries to produce high-yielding, disease-resistant coffee seedlings. The activity supported farmer primary cooperatives, common interest groups (CIGs), farmer innovation groups (FIGs), and female and youth groups in obtaining improved varieties from the Jimma University Research Center in Oromia.

To facilitate seedling production, nurseries received inputs such as sprayers and various farm tools. The activity also provided technical assistance to improve nursery infrastructure, seedling propagation technology, and small business management systems. From 2018 to 2021, around 6,424 (1,295 female) common interest and youth group members in SNNP, Oromia, and Amhara on 109 nursery sites, produced and sold 4.6 million seedlings and generated ETB 5.3 million in sales income.

Availability of water is a serious challenge faced by nurseries, with many water sources requiring long and costly journeys. To address this issue, FTFE VCA provided a solar power irrigation system to 12 nursery sites in SNNP (5), Oromia (5), and Amhara (2). The pumping and tank equipment helped save time and reduce the burden of women who had to fetch water from great distances. The improved water supply also benefited nursery sites by creating opportunities to produce irrigated vegetable crops and diversify seedling production.

Aynalem Mustefa, a coffee farmer in Yeki, SNNPR averaged 70-85 bags of coffee on four hectares for over 10 years. However, as his trees got older, the amount of coffee he collected started shrinking, from 70

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bags to 50 and then to 40. “I witnessed a major reduction in the amount of coffee I collected. I tried pruning them, but still couldn’t harvest as much,” he said. Aynalem was advised to replace his trees and was linked to Edget Behibret coffee nursery, a common interest group in his woreda. “In 2019, I bought 3,000 seedlings for ETB 1.50 each and replaced portions of my old coffee trees on one hectare. I can already see the positive outcome and I am happy that I decided to replace my old trees. Next season (2022), I will live off the income from the one hectare and replace the remaining old trees,” he said.

Kite Multipurpose Farmer’s Primary Cooperative was established in 2012 in Bench Shako, SNNPR with only 31 members. Currently, the cooperative has 387 (88 female) farmers and runs one of the most successful nurseries in the area by producing improved seedlings and encouraging member farmers to replace their old trees. With VCA’s support, in 2021, the cooperative produced more than 164,000 coffee seedlings and sold 77,000 worth $822 (ETB 36,100). As a result, 16 smallholder coffee producer farmers replaced their old coffee trees. On average one coffee producer planted 4,813 coffee seedlings.

The high demand for top-quality seedlings encouraged the individual sites to increase the area under nursery production. In mid-2019, there was a 120 percent increase in average hectares owned per nursery for coffee seedling production in Oromia and SNNP regions. This brought their potential annual seedling production to nearly two million seedlings, up from one million in 2017/18, which improved access and availability of improved seedlings in the market for farmers. Support to coffee nurseries has made coffee seedling accessible and the practice of replacing old coffee trees acceptable as coffee yield and quality increases. Expansion of nurseries has contributed to the commercialization of coffee seedlings allowing smallholder farmers to become competitive and generate greater incomes. In general, with the transfer of technology which has been possible through the technical and financial support provided by FTFE VCA, the sustainability of nurseries is enhanced.

Derartu Common Interest Group (CIG) runs a coffee seedling nursery in Limu Seka woreda, Jimma zone of Oromia region. It was established in 2017 and has 16 members who are all women. The material support that FTFE VCA provided included a wheelbarrow, shovel, pronged finger, and improved seed and polybag for the seedling. As a result, Derartu CIG’s annual seedling production has steadily been growing, reaching 116,000 in 2020 from 25,000 seedlings in 2018 and generating ETB 116,000 as compared to ETB 30,000 when they first started. Currently (2021), halfway through the year, the CIG has sold 30,000 seedlings (out of a production of 80,000 and earned ETB 60,000. Members who are also coffee producers use the seedlings to replace their old trees. “Running a nursery is a challenging job. It requires patience, motivation, and full participation. FTFE VCA’s technical and material support were crucial to producing high quality, fast-growing, and disease-resistant seedling” said Zeituna Abakoro, leader of Derartu CIG.

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Minimizing postharvest loss, creating private sector market opportunities

HST bags are pesticide-free and eliminate insects and mold by depleting oxygen levels and producing carbon dioxide. These bags can be reused over multiple seasons, helping farmers preserve crops without harmful chemicals and pesticides. In addition, this technology allows farmers to engage in temporal price arbitrage, safely storing grains until farmers can take advantage of higher market prices throughout the year. Temporal price arbitrage is the ability of farmers to store their grain for longer periods, allowing them to wait until prices are higher and thus sell at a more favorable time. HST bags are suitable for all types of crops; however, VCA intervention focused on staple crops such as maize and chickpea.

Shayashone PLC, a local distributor, and producer of the Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags received a $437,000 grant from VCA to promote the use and increase the availability of HST, specifically PICS bags, among smallholder farmers. VCA and Shayashone technicians held village demonstrations of the proper use of the technology and conducted publicity campaigns in local media. The support also aimed to strengthen distribution channels through vendors and youth resellers in local markets.

Since its inception in June 2018, the partnership between VCA and Shayashone reached more than 1 million farmers in 40 targeted woredas across four regions and sold 1.4 million bags generating nearly $1.9 million in sales (ETB 66.4 million). “The agreement was ambitious, but we knew with commitment and hard work, it was achievable,” said Yared Sertse, General Manager of Shayashone. “Before 2018, it was difficult for us to imagine selling millions of PICS bags, but VCA support gave us a significant boost.”

Shayashone uses a locally-focused sales model based around more than 100 community vendors, who charge an average commission of $0.17 (ETB 7) per bag, and are scattered throughout the target woredas. The vendors then select youth resellers who can help get the PICS bags closer to the community; the resellers add a profit of ETB 2 on each bag they sell. To date this model has generated employment and income for 264 youth resellers.

The aggressive marketing strategy created a growing demand among farmers for HST. In fact, according to an internal survey conducted by VCA in 2020, the most common complaint among client farmers was a need for better and more regular access to bags. VCA sought additional suppliers of HST bags to encourage competition and benefit farmers through better quality and prices. As a result, new partnership agreements were signed with HiTEC Trading and EGGA PLC, both importers of the technology. HiTEC has been importing GrainPro bags for the last several years, but with nominal sales to grain farmers.

The agreement with HiTEC was signed on November 18, 2019, with a goal of reaching 125,000 farmers in 23 woredas and total sales of 250,000 bags generating $360,000. So far, the company has sold 110,000 bags across the regions.

VCA is also supporting EGGA PLC, a new supplier of AgroZ bags. “We understand the potential of the market and can see that farmers understand the critical benefit of the technology. With support from VCA, we are seeking vendors across 21 woredas,” said General Manager Serbessa Negera. The agreement, signed in March 2020, requires the company to sell 248,000 bags to 300,000 farmers. “The

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first 100,000 bags, purchased from AgroZ manufacturing plant based in Tanzania, have already reached customs, and we hope to be in the market soon,” Serbessa said.

With more than 1.8 million bags already sold and assuming an average loss of 11.5 percent per quintal, these partnerships have so far saved an estimated 210,655 quintals of maize worth $7.1 million (ETB 294.9 million). Assuming that one person consumes three quintals of maize per year, the amount of maize saved so far can feed an estimated 70,219 people.

Based on the resounding success of these partnerships, both Shayashone and HiTEC are now establishing the first HST manufacturing plants in Ethiopia to increase supply and reduce their own operating and import costs. Shayashone invested $3 million to build a new factory in Oromia, which will be operational in early 2022 with a production capacity of 5 million bags annually. In five years, Shayashone targets to grow annual production to 15 million. HiTEC invested around $2 million in a factory in Debre Berhan, Amhara. The factory is set to become operational at the end of 2021 and produce 10 million bags annually.

Domestic annual production of 15 million bags will provide storage capacity for a total of 15 million quintals of grain per year. The reduction in post-harvest loss could potentially save 1,725,000 quintals of food worth more than $58.5 million (ETB 2.4 billion) that could feed up to 575,000 people per year, a number that is only expected to grow as production capacity increases and even more smallholders recognize the ease and effectiveness of hermetic storage technology.

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ANNEX III. SUBAWARDS

No. Award # Type Subawardee Award Start

Award End

Total Budget (USD)

1 CRC-01 Subcontract International Medical Corps (IMC) 5-Oct-17 31-Dec-21 $ 3,593,271 2 CRC-02 Subcontract Banyan Global 8-Mar-17 31-Dec-21 $ 1,537,389 3 CRC-03 Subcontract CropLife 5-May-18 30-Apr-19 $ 253,354 4 CRC-04 Subcontract Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) 1-Aug-18 20-Sep-21 $ 524,621 5 CRC-05 Subcontract Boot Coffee 6-Nov-18 31-Dec-21 $ 552,665 6 CRC-06 Subcontract ACDI/VOCA 8-Oct-19 31-May-20 $ 324,572 7 FPC-01 Subcontract HEDBEZ Business & Consultancy 31-Jul-17 31-Oct-17 $ 178,451 8 FPC-02 Subcontract Farm Radio International 25-Apr-18 31-Mar-19 $ 365,670

9 FPC-03 Subcontract DAB Development Research and Training PLC 16-Apr-18 30-Sep-18 $ 34,780

10 FPC-04 Subcontract HEDBEZ Business & Consultancy 23-Apr-18 31-Dec-18 $ 187,588 11 FPC-05 Subcontract Almi Dairy Training Institute 1-Aug-18 30-Sep-20 $ 219,470 12 FPC-06 Subcontract LM Quality Management Plc 1-Feb-19 31-Aug-20 $ 179,567 13 FPC-07 Subcontract Alliance for Coffee Excellence 7-Mar-19 30-Nov-21 $ 220,543 14 FPC-08 Subcontract HEDBEZ (APMS and PHL) 13-Mar-19 31-Dec-19 $ 249,637.49 15 FPC-09 Subcontract JaRco Consulting Plc 10-May-19 20-Jan-20 $ 94,934

16 FPC-10 Subcontract Deep Dive Research & Consulting Plc

6-Jun-19 30-Sep-19 $ 51,423

17 FPC-11 Subcontract HEDBEZ Business & Consultancy 22-Aug-19 30-Nov-19 $ 32,974 18 FPC-12 Subcontract CropLife Ethiopia 31-Dec-19 31-Jul-21 $ 248,413 19 FPC-13 Subcontract HEDBEZ Business & Consultancy 2-Mar-20 15-Oct-20 $ 195,942

20 FPC-14 Subcontract Deep Dive Research & Consulting Plc

21-Apr-20 30-Sep-20 $ 56,146

21 FPC-15 Subcontract HEDBEZ Business & Consultancy 9-Mar-21 31-Oct-21 $ 247,229

22 FPC-16 Subcontract Deep Dive Research & Consulting Plc 17-Mar-21 30-Sep-21 $ 54,786

23 FPC-17 Subcontract LM Quality Management Plc 26-Feb-21 30-Sep-21 $ 183,360

24 FPC-18 Subcontract Deep Dive Research & Consulting Plc

17-Mar-21 31-May-21 $ 32,796

25 PF-01 Partner Fund Shayashone Trading PLC 11-Jul-18 30-Sep-21 $ 437,072 26 PF-02 Partner Fund Self Help Africa 16-Oct-18 31-Oct-20 $ 248,146 27 PF-03 Partner Fund Aybar Engineering PLC 31-Jul-18 31-Jul-21 $ 149,741

28 PF-04 Partner Fund Kata Muduga Farmers' Cooperative Union (KMU) 28-Nov-18 27-Nov-21 $ 136,113

29 PF-05 Partner Fund Ethio Wetlands and Natural Resources Association 2-Nov-18 15-Jan-21 $ 151,550

30 PF-06 Partner Fund Dr. Siraw Abeje Veterinary Clinic 10-Jul-19 10-Oct-21 $ 120,683 31 PF-07 Partner Fund ORDA 19-Nov-18 19-Feb-19 $ 72,460 32 PF-09 Partner Fund RATSON 19-Nov-18 31-May-19 $ 104,186 33 PF-10 Partner Fund Dr. Tefera Veterinary clinic 9-Sep-19 31-Oct-21 $ 101,356 34 PF-11 Partner Fund Bale Green 2-May-19 31-Aug-21 $ 144,931

35 PF-12 Partner Fund Amuari High Yielding Varieties and Agricultural Products PLC

28-Jan-19 30-Apr-21 $ 134,152

36 PF-14 Partner Fund Temesgen Retebo Integrated Farm (TRIF) 23-Aug-19 22-Aug-21 $ 142,697

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No. Award # Type Subawardee Award Start

Award End

Total Budget (USD)

37 PF-16 Partner Fund Amanuel Dairy Processing and Marketing Cooperative 28-Oct-19 29-Nov-21 $ 135,925

38 PF-17 Partner Fund Biniyam Mulat Seed Enterprise 26-Aug-19 25-Jul-21 $ 128,447

39 PF-18 Partner Fund Tsehay multipurpose farmer's cooperative union

17-Jul-19 31-Jul-21 $ 213,412

40 PF-19 Partner Fund LED Consultant 17-Jul-19 31-Oct-19 $ 45,605 41 PF-20 Partner Fund RATSON 5-Nov-19 30-Apr-20 $ 126,447 42 PF-21 Partner Fund HITEC Trading House 19-Nov-19 30-Sep-21 $ 249,286 43 PF-22 Partner Fund Family Milk 6-Dec-19 31-Mar-21 $ 185,152

44 PF-23 Partner Fund EGAA Agricultural Input Suppliers PLc 10-Mar-20 15-Dec-21 $ 232,125

45 PF-25 Partner Fund Humera Milk Cooperatives Union 2-Nov-20 30-Jun-21 $ 27,982 46 TF-01 Tech Fund Fall Armyworm Monitoring (FAW) 2-Apr-18 30-Apr-21 $ 119,575 47 TF-02 Tech Fund Artificial Insemination 17-Aug-18 31-May-20 $ 61,300 48 TF-03 Tech Fund Coffee Nursery 16-Aug-18 31-Oct-21 $ 369,951 49 TF-04 Tech Fund Milk Collection Centers 15-Sep-18 30-Jun-20 $ 424,130 50 TF-05 Tech Fund Coffee Processing Equipment 1-Jun-19 31-Oct-21 $ 636,568

51 TF-06 Tech Fund Dairy Technology Center: equipment and materials

31-Jul-19 15-Dec-21 $ 394,436

52 TF-07 Tech Fund MCC Phase 2 and Milk Processing Plants 31-Jul-19 15-Dec-21 $ 512,569

53 TF-08 Tech Fund Agro Dealers establishment and Capacity Building 1-Sep-19 31-Oct-21 $ 324,810

54 TF-09 Tech Fund Cup of Excellence Laboratory Equipment

1-Sep-19 31-Oct-21 $ 391,135

55 TF-10 Tech Fund Maize Mechanization 11-Mar-20 28-Feb-22 $ 575,263 56 TF-11 Tech Fund Poultry Technologies 1-Aug-20 15-Dec-21 $ 491,978 57 TF-12 Tech Fund MLA Technology Center 17-Dec-20 15-Dec-21 $ 360,794 58 TF-13 Tech Fund Tigray Response 14-Jan-21 15-Dec-21 $ 2,192,611

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ANNEX IV. NON-EXPENDABLE PROPERTY

(1) Non-expendable property and all mobile IT equipment

(2) Government-furnished property listed in this contract as nonexpendable or accountable, including all mobile IT equipment.

(3) Explain if transactions were not processed through or otherwise authorized by USAID.

PROPERTY INVENTORY VERIFICATIONS

I attest that (1) physical inventories of government property are taken not less frequently than annually; (2) the accountability records maintained for government property in our possession are in agreement with such inventories; and (3) the total of the detailed accountability records maintained agrees with the property value shown opposite line C above, and the estimated average age of each category of property is as cited opposite line D above.

Authorized Signature Printed Name Date

ANNUAL REPORT OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY IN CONTRACTOR’S CUSTODY Fintrac, Inc.

As of September 30, 2021

Computer, Other Office Equipment,

Software Vehicles Motorcycles

Agronomist Kits/Field

Technician Materials

Office Furnishings & make ready

EF001 EF002 EF003 EF004 EF005 A. Value of Property as of

last report 244,682 722,910 - 21,160 114,945

1. Acquisitions (add): 35,586 - 6,701 13,279 a. Purchased by contractor (1) 35,586 b. Transferred from USAID

(2)

c. Transferred from others without reimbursement (3)

2. Disposals (deduct): B. Value of property as of

reporting date. 280,268 722,910 27,861 128,224

C. Estimated average age of contractor held property (in years)

3.21 3.67 - 2.82 3.19

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ANNEX V. BUDGET

See separate attachment for FY 2021 financial summary.