Teff Production and Marketing Nexus: An Insight from Dera, North West Ethiopia

Abstract

Although some production and marketing restrictions are barely defined, Dera area is a potential teff producer in Ethiopia’s Southern Gondar zone. The study analysed teff production, focusing on factors that affect the volume of teff sold, based on data collected from household surveys, respondent interviews, and focus group discussions. Both descriptive and econometric analyses were used. The results show that teff grown in the study area is mixed, practised by 34.5% of households, followed by red teff (32.16%) with commonly used storage facilities such as Gota, Gotera, and Sack. In terms of marketing, the results show that 57.7% of teff produced in the 2019 sowing season was delivered to the market through rural retailers, wholesalers, and directly from producers to consumers. The result of the ordinary least squares estimates of the multiple linear regression model indicates the gender of the head of household, the experience of the head of household, the amount of teff produced, the lag in the market price of teff, on-farm income, in addition to payment outside the teff farm, positively affects the volume of teff sales. In contrast, livestock ownership and distance from the market have a negative and considerable impact. The paper also examines the main limitations and opportunities faced by farmers. The lack of an organised market and price setting is the most common limitation for farmers in the marketing system. Therewith, fraud and fluctuations in supply and demand, as well as insufficient working capital are considerable limitations for traders. However, the growth of urbanisation, continued price increases, and government investment in infrastructure development are great opportunities for both farmers and merchants. Thus, to have better results in the teff market, it is necessary to implement improved negotiation power, accurate market information, and infrastructure development. This study dictates a large number of further studies related to the impact of urbanisation on the consumption of processed teff products