Page 1 of 25
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 03 Issue 09
August 2017
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 141
Production Status, Marketing and Risks of some Major Fruits
and Vegetable Production in Ethiopia. A Review
Merga Boru
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research/Assosa Agricultural Research Center/
e- mail mergaboru23@gmail.com
Abstract
Ethiopia is well known for its diversity of
indigenous food plants, including
vegetables. The cultivated vegetables are
mainly grown by traditional farmers in
home gardens, although some are grown in
fields and along field margins. About 27%
of the crop species cultivated in home
gardens in Ethiopia, many of them
indigenous, are used as vegetables.
Vegetable production plays important role
in poverty alleviation through employment
generation, improving the feeding
behaviour of the people, and creating new
opportunities for poor farmers. Since the
labour to land ratio of vegetable cultivation
is high, vegetable products are bulky and
perishable, and vegetable has continuous
demand in the market, its production and
marketing allows high productive
employment. Increasing horticultural
production and marketing thus contribute
to commercialization of the rural economy
and create many off-farm job. Ethiopia
mainly due to cereal based food habit is
practicing and largely affects children’s in
most part of the country. Many research
reports indicated that an estimated five
million people are suffering from lack of
vitamins and essential minerals. A
deficiency problem in Ethiopia especially
for children’s rest on increasing the
availability of vitamin. In general 60 to 80
% of health problems in Ethiopia are due
communicable diseases and nutritional
problems. Ethiopia has got an immense
potential to develop intensive vegetable
production especially at commercial scale.
In general, the drawback to this sector
include social and cultural habits of the
population like dietary preferences for
meat and other animal products, and
distaste for vegetable crops, lack of
consumer awareness, economic reasons of
the local consumers, absence of nutrition
intervention programme using vegetables.
The vegetable industry could benefit from
tapping the potential of the indigenous taxa
as this would improve local and national
Page 2 of 25
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 03 Issue 09
August 2017
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 142
food security, augment farmers' incomes
and help surmount some health problems
associated with nutrient deficiency.
Key words: Fruits, marketing, production,
Risks, Vegetables
1.Introduction
The agricultural sector greatly influences
economic performance in Ethiopia. About
11.7 million smallholder households
account for approximately 95 percent of
agricultural GDP and 85 percent of
employment. With a total area of about
1.13 million km2 and about 51.3 million
hectares of arable land, Ethiopia has
tremendous potential for agricultural
development. The agricultural sector
accounts for roughly 43 percent of GDP,
and 90 percent of exports (MoARD, 2010).
Ethiopian agriculture is dominated by
subsistence, low input, low output; rain-fed
farming system (MoARD, 2010)
The low performance of agriculture can be
attributed to many interrelated factors.
These include recurrent drought, unreliable
rainfall, land degradation, scarcity and
fragmentation of land, crop pests and
diseases, livestock diseases, scarcity of
animal feed, low level of improved and
suitable technologies, and poor marketing
and service infrastructure Within the
agricultural sector, vegetable production
plays an important and varied nutritional as
well as socio-economic role (Ntow 2003)
Vegetables have a special place in farming
system because of the intensive nature of
the crops. They can give high yield per unit
area of land compared to cereals and hence
generate high income for the farmers
because of high market value and
profitability. They also have high nutritive
value compared to cereals. However, there
are quite a lot of complex production and
technical constraints that limit the
expansion of the sector in the country.
These includes low genetic potential, lack
of high yielding and high quality cultivars
for domestic and export markets, poor
management practices, low level of disease
and insect pest control measures,
inadequate quality seed supply, low level of
post-harvest technology, weak research and
technology dissemination (EARO 2000).
Many of the vegetables are low yielders,
and they are highly perishable. Hence,
undertaking research on vegetable
production risks would help in
Page 3 of 25
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/
ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 03 Issue 09
August 2017
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 143
identification of appropriate technologies
that may minimize risk.
Ethiopia has different varieties of fruit and
vegetable crops that can grow in different
agro ecological zones produced through
commercial as well as small farmers both
as a source of income as well as food.
However, the type is limited to few crops
and the production is concentrated to some
pocket areas. In spite of this, the production
of fruits and vegetables varies from
cultivating a few plants in the backyards for
home consumption up to a large-scale
production for domestic and export markets
(Dawit et al. 2004). But, Commercial
production of horticultural crops, including
vegetables, has also been increasing in
recent years because of expansion of state
farms (e.g., Ethiopian Horticulture
Development Corporation) and increasing
private investment in the sector by national
and international entrepreneurs (EHDA
2011, 2012). Commercial vegetable
production is concentrated in the Rift
Valley areas of Ethiopia, primarily due to
availability of irrigation facility,
accessibility and closeness to agro- processing industries (Alemayehu et al.
2010). The Ethiopian Horticulture
Development Corporation has been
carrying out production and marketing
activities of horticultural crops since its
establishment in (Agonafir 1991)
The Ethiopian Fruit and Vegetables
Marketing Enterprise (ETFRUIT) is a
parastatal trading organization established
in April 1980 under the Horticulture
Development Corporation to deal with
domestic and export trade of fresh fruits,
vegetables, flowers, and processed
horticultural products. Relatively, smaller
quantities are produced in the highlands,
eastern Ethiopia and some isolated parts of
northern Ethiopia. Warm season vegetables
such as tomato, hot pepper and snap beans
(Phaseolus spp.) are produced in hot semi- arid areas both under rain-fed conditions
and irrigation (particularly in the Rift
Valley), while the highland offers
favourable growing conditions for the
production of cool season vegetables such
as Ethiopian mustard, cabbage, potato,
garlic, onion, shallot (A. cepa var.
aggregatum), carrot and beetroot (Dawit et
al. 2004, EHDA 2011, 2012).
