How small-scale farmers jumped commercialisation hurdles in Ethiopia

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Chickpea farmers have adopted new varieties to achieve commercialisation, say scientists

The use of improved crop varieties has created a credible pathway to commercialization for subsistence farmers in Ethiopia.

Researchers from World Agroforestry (ICRAF) and the Institute for Food and Resource Economics at the University of Bonn, Germany, who studied chickpea ( Cicer arietinum) farmers, contend that this transition can be replicated in other developing countries where small-scale farmers struggle to commercialise production owing to poor access to technology such as high yielding crop varieties. The team’s study was published in the journal, European Review of Agricultural Economics. The research adds to solutions for one of CIFOR-ICRAF’s key challenges: broken food systems.

The revelation is a key pointer for development initiatives, which have pushed for ways to strike a seamless transition of smallholder agriculture from subsistence to market orientation over the last few decades, with most policy environments aiming for the production and commercialisation of high-value products for domestic and export markets.

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This story is originally published on ICRAF Blog.

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