Feed the Future Ethiopia Value Chain Activity | Q1 FY 2019 Quarterly Report

The activity aims to improve agricultural productivity and market access for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. The geographic focus of the activity is on four target regions, including the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR). In the first quarter of FY 2019 (October - December 2018), the activity continued to ramp up field activities and implementation of its grants program. A total of 34,568 direct beneficiaries were impacted by different interventions across the four target regions, bringing the cumulative total of direct beneficiaries to 103,557. The quarter was characterized by good grass growth at the end of the rainy season, resulting in stable levels of both milk and meat production. The activity focused on increasing involvement of women in project activities, resulting in a 6 percent increase in female participation over the previous quarter. The grants staff continued to negotiate and finalize partnerships with grantees and subcontractors, approving six grants and one subcontract this quarter. These subawards cover the coffee value chain, postharvest technologies for maize, chickpea production, and business skills trainings. Key achievements in Q1 FY19 include the introduction of hermetic storage technology to 7,068 farmers at a series of bag opening events, leading to on-site sales of 1,600 PICS bags. Hundreds of vendors in 21 woredas received training in promoting the bags, and from August to December, 78,404 PICS bags have been sold to beneficiary farmers. Coffee farmers also received premium prices 32 percent above the previous year, with 10.7 million kilograms of red cherry collected from 38 cooperatives and 424 outgrowers in Jimma, and 2.4 million kilograms of red cherry sold in SNNPR. The activity's grants program continued to support the development of value chains, with a focus on improving productivity and market access for smallholder farmers. The program's interventions included the promotion of hermetic storage technology, postharvest handling, and business skills training. The activity's progress in Q1 FY 2019 demonstrates its commitment to improving agricultural productivity and market access for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia.