Economic and agronomic analysis of the seed potato supply chain in Ethiopia

182 Pages·2013·1.59 MB·English

by  Tufa, Adane

Economic and agronomic analysis of the seed potato supply chain
in Ethiopia

Adane Hirpa Tufa
Thesis committee

Promotors
Prof. Dr ir. A.G.J.M. Oude Lansink
Professor of Business Economics
Wageningen University

Prof. Dr ir. P.C. Struik
Professor of Crop Physiology
Wageningen University

Co-promotors
Dr ir. M.P.M. Meuwissen
Associate professor, Business Economics Group
Wageningen University

Dr ir. W.J.M. Lommen
Assistant professor, Centre for Crop Systems Analysis
Wageningen University

Other members
Prof. Dr ir. M.K. van Ittersum
Wageningen University

Prof. Dr O. van Kooten
Wageningen University

Dr W.J.J. Bijman
Wageningen University

Dr N.I. Valeeva
Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI)
Wageningen UR

This research was conducted under the auspices of the Wageningen School of Social Sciences
(WASS)
Economic and agronomic analysis of the seed potato supply chain in
Ethiopia

Adane Hirpa Tufa

Thesis
submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of doctor
at Wageningen University
by the authority of the Rector Magnificus
Prof. Dr M.J. Kropff,
in the presence of the
Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board
to be defended in public
on Wednesday 12 June 2013
at 4 p.m. in the Aula.
Adane Hirpa Tufa
Economic and agronomic analysis of the seed potato supply chain in Ethiopia,
182 pages.

Thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NL (2013)
With references, with summaries in English and Dutch
ISBN: 978-94-6173-543-0
Abstract
In Ethiopia, potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) can significantly contribute to food security
improvement by increasing food availability and cash income of smallholder farmers.
Currently, production and productivity of potato in Ethiopia are very low because of poor
quality seed tubers and unavailability of seed tubers of improved varieties. The overall
objective of this thesis was to study the economic and agronomic aspects that affect quality
and availability of seed potatoes in Ethiopia. To accomplish this objective, first, seed potato
systems currently operating in Ethiopia, i.e. informal, alternative and formal ones, were
analysed for their strengths and weaknesses. The result of the analysis showed that all existing
seed systems have problems in performing their function and need to improve. To enhance
overall supply of seed tubers co-existence and linkage of the three seed systems were found to
be very important. Second, a conjoint analysis (a technique used to measure relative
contribution of product attributes) was conducted to elicit farmers’ opinions on management
attributes that they believed to affect yield and quality of potato. The results showed that
management attributes, such as storage method, hoeing combined with hill size, fertilizer rate
and fungicide application frequency had more effect on seed yield and quality than seed
source, seed size, sprouting method, tillage frequency, and planting date. Third, a study was
conducted to develop cost-effective seed potato production plans for farmers in Ethiopia using
perceived contributions of production and postharvest management and costs. Several plans
were developed from which farmers could choose an affordable plan that will enable them to
produce seed potato with reasonable yield and quality levels. The fourth study was conducted
to describe existing and potential seed potato supply chains, and to evaluate the performance
of these chains. The findings showed that seed potato supply chains vary in their performance
with respect to cost, seed quality, flexibility and responsiveness. Actors in the chains also
varied with respect to their importance to improve seed potato supply chain performance sub-
indicators. The results of this thesis indicate that seed quality and availability can be improved
by improving economic and agronomic aspects of the seed systems in general and seed supply
chains in particular.

Key words: Potato, seed quality, seed tuber, seed system, quality improvement, expert
elicitation, Solanum tuberosum, seed potato, supply chain, performance, Ethiopia

Preface
Sometime in 2008, Wageningen University announced three PhD research positions on potato
in Ethiopia for its new research programme entitled Co-innovation for Quality in African
Food Chains (CoQA). I was interested in one of the positions with profiles somehow related
to my academic background. I submitted an application even though the research topic was
not that much close to what I had in mind. At the end of May 2008, Prof. Paul Struik came to
Hawassa University, Ethiopia, to make a short list and conduct interviews. Fortunately, I was
selected for the PhD (that started October 2008) about which I am writing this preface. I
would like to thank Professor Paul Struik for his interest and confidence in my application
and for giving me an opportunity as well as a challenge I never considered before. I would
also like to thank the CoQA team for developing and implementing such an interesting
programme.
This thesis was co-funded by the Interdisciplinary Research and Education Fund (INREF)
of Wageningen University and the Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in
Higher Education (NUFFIC), and I would like to thank both organizations. I also want to
acknowledge Hawassa University for providing transport for field research at the beginning of
this thesis work and Dr JA Zwartz Foundation for covering part of the printing costs of this
thesis.
I would like to express my heart felt gratitude to my supervisors Professor Dr ir. Paul
Struik and Professor Dr ir. Alfons Oude Lansink and co-supervisors Dr ir. Miranda
Meuwissen and Dr ir. Willemien Lommen. Without their involvement, the completion of this
thesis would have been impossible. Paul, Alfons, Miranda and Willemien, thank you very
much for your diligent guidance and support from the beginning to the end of the entire thesis
work. You had always time to respond to my concerns, even during weekends and holidays. I
will never forget those extraordinary fast responses. I have benefited a lot from the
discussions we had during the several regular supervision group and individual meetings.
Paul, thank you very much for coming with me to the field observation trip to the
Shahsamane area. Thank you also for being considerate about the differences between the
Dutch and the Ethiopian ways of communicating with people and for the efforts you made to
bridge the gaps. Alfons, thank you very much for allowing me to work in Business
Economics Group. Miranda, thank you very much for your friendship, in addition to your
supervision. Thank you a lot for the cares and treats to me and my family. I also want to thank
your husband Stef and your children Thomas and Manon for their warm welcome during the
dinner invitation at your home, your birthday party and the 2012 fest of ‘Sint Maarten’ (the
light and pancakes). Willemien, thank you very much for welcoming me for additional
discussions on the research issues that needed special attention. I would like to thank Ivo van
der Lans for his advice on one of the papers in this thesis. Dr Adamasu, thank you for
coordinating this thesis research in Ethiopia.
Prof. Haverkort, Dr Wiersema, Dr Gildemacher and Mr Abdulwhab, thank you very
much for the discussions we had on potato in general and on my research topic in particular
during the early stages of this thesis research, and also for filling out the questionnaires. Dr
Berga, Dr Bekele and Mr Gebremedhin, thank you for providing me literatures that were not
available from others sources. Dr Bijman and Prof. Leeuwis, thank you for commenting on
the first paper of this thesis. I would like to thank all survey participants for their cooperation.
Business Economic Group PhD students, Tamara, Geralda, Daphne, Koenraad, Victor,
Niels, Mahesh, Hugo, Daniel, Luis, João, Eva, Farahnaz, Xuezhen, Wudu, Ewaldus, Tsion,
Christina, Jaap, Felix Ngoc, Frazen, Eliana and Norhariani; and staff, Anne, Dr Grigorios, Dr
Monique, Dr Annet, Mr Gerard, Dr Erno, Prof. Spiro, Dr Henk, Dr Helmut and Dr Wilma,
thank you very much for making my stay in the corridor a very pleasant one. Thanks to
Argyris and Grigorios for welcoming me to the Netherlands and taking me to the
Bungalowpark at Hoenderloo. Argyris, thanks for your jacket; it saved me from the cold
shock I experienced for the first time in my life. During my stay in the BEC I shared office
with former and current PhD students, Huria, Natash, Niels, Victor, Mahesh, Tamara,
Geralda, Wudu, Daniel, Tsion and Hugo, thank you for creating a nice working atmosphere.
Tamara and Daniel, thank you very much for willing to be my paranymphs. Tamara, thanks
for assisting me in designing the cover of this thesis. Anne, thank you for all your help
regarding administrative, financial and housing issues. Thank you also for the Easter eggs, the
Sinterklaas chocolates and the barbecues. Ilona, Jeanette and Leonie, thank you for all your
help.
Thanks to the CoQA PhD students, Gumataw, Temesgen, Engida, Djalal, Nicodème and
Menouwesso; and the Post-docs, Meike, Annie and Verena for the great times we had
together in the CoQA programme. Special thanks to Annie for the welcoming visit of my
family at Wageningen.
Thank you to my former colleagues and friends, Dr Moti, Dr Guush, Dr Getawu, Kebebe,
Thomas, Dr Dambala, Dr Michele Nori, Dr Berhanu Gebremdhin, Mohammed, and Dr
Waktole for the moral support. Dr Berhanu, I learned from you how to write a scientific
report. Thank you very much for that. I would like to thank my relatives and friends who gave
me a hand in accomplishing some activities I left behind because of my study. Bedaso,
Mesfin, Assefa, thanks for the help and moral support. Abnet and Frew, thank you a lot for
driving long distances during field work and for the friendship.
I met several new friends at Wageningen University. Frederike, Desalegn, Abiy,
Mahdere, Mahlet, Solomie, Dhuguma, Marga, Dawit, Shemelis, Yenenesh, Lebeyesus,
Ayalew, Solomon, Zenebe, Waga, Mequanint, and Tewodros, thank you a lot for the times we
spent together and drinks and traditional meals we had together.
I am thankful to Marion Zaaijer for facilitating the Netherlands entry visa for my son,
Margreet van Beek for facilitating day-care for my son; and AnneMeike and other Kievitsnest
day-care workers for taking care of my son.
Very special thanks to my wife Habtamnesh Girma Habtemariam and my son Japheth for
their love, care, moral support and patience. Habtamnesh (Mama), thank you very much,
again. Without your support and love, my PhD study would have been very difficult. You
made life easier for me. I am proud of you. Japheth (Japhi), you also contributed a lot to the
success of this thesis. You travelled with us this long journey. I used part of your time and
your comfort to work on the thesis. You have contributed even more; your sweet smile had a
great power that always refilled me with new energy after a long tiring day.
I never forget the continuous moral support, blessing and love of my mother, who passed
away on 18 June 2012. It would not be possible for me to be at this stage without her care and
encouragement during my childhood.

Adane Hirpa Tufa
Wageningen, June 2013
Contents
Chapter 1. General introduction..................................................................................................1
1.1. General background ......................................................................................................... 2
1.2. Potato in Ethiopia ............................................................................................................. 3
1.3. Problem statement ............................................................................................................ 5
1.4. Objectives ......................................................................................................................... 7
1.5. Research approach ............................................................................................................ 7
1.6. Outline .............................................................................................................................. 9
References ............................................................................................................................. 10
Chapter 2. Analysis of seed potato systems in Ethiopia .......................................................... 15
2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 17
2.2. Major potato growing areas and types of seed systems ................................................. 18
2.3. Materials and methods .................................................................................................... 22
2.4. Current status of seed potato systems ............................................................................. 25
2.5. Expert elicitation on improvement options .................................................................... 37
2.6. Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 40
References ............................................................................................................................. 41
Chapter 3. Farmers’ opinion on seed potato management attributes in Ethiopia: A conjoint
analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 45
3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 47
3.2. Methodology .................................................................................................................. 47
3.3. Results ............................................................................................................................ 58
3.4. Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 66
3.5. Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 68
References ............................................................................................................................. 69
Chapter 4. Cost-effective seed potato production in Ethiopia ................................................. 73
4.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 75
4.2. Framework and model specification .............................................................................. 76
4.3. Description of data ......................................................................................................... 78
4.4. Data analysis ................................................................................................................... 83
4.5. Results ............................................................................................................................ 84
4.6. Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 88