International Journal of Agricultural Economics

Special Issue

Determinants of Market Outlet Choices of Tef

  • Submission Deadline: 20 August 2020
  • Status: Submission Closed
  • Lead Guest Editor: Addisu Getahun
About This Special Issue
Ethiopia is the center of origin for tef and endowed with a varied agro-ecology for growing tef with a combination of appropriate altitude, temperature, rainfall and soil. Among cereals, tef accounts for the largest share (22.95%) of the cultivated area in 2015/16, followed by maize. Tef is second to maize in terms of quantity of production. In Ethiopia, tef is mostly cultivated by smallholder farmers at the central, eastern and northern highlands of the country. However, majority of the country's tef production comes from Oromia and Amhara regions. The surplus tef produced from these major producing areas are distributed to the deficit markets through the grain market channels. The sustained cultivation of tef in Ethiopia has been emphasized by a multitude of its relative merits over the other crops in terms of its broad adaptation to a wide range of altitudes and to varied agro-ecological conditions; reasonable tolerance to both low and high moisture stresses; minimal post-harvest losses since the grains suffer less from storage pests (such as weevils).
Tef accounts for the largest share of the total value of cereal production. Tef is grown by a total of 6.5 million farmers in Ethiopia. Tef has the highest market value among all cereals grown and it is a source of cash income for Ethiopian small farm households. It is the second most important cash crop after coffee and generating almost 500 million USD income per year for local farmers. Compared to other staples, the price of tef has increased at faster rate in recent years, hence the price gap between tef and other staples is widening. The benefits that tef market suppliers gain from this price trend are a strong indication of the great economic potential of tef in the international trade. Given the increasing global popularity of tef, the international demand for this grain has also increased. However, Ethiopian tef yields have not met the increased market demands, thus leading to ever-increasing prices of tef.
Current tef market is extremely underdeveloped due to fragmentation and price volatility. First, the market lacks large scale processing to capture economies of scale. Second, price volatility, caused by seasonal variation and lack of standardization negatively affects farmers liquidity and consumers consumption patterns. In Dendi district tef is cash crop for majority of the smallholder farmers and the supply of tef in the study area still can’t satisfy the existing market demand and the farmers are not benefited from the market price. This study was aimed identifying the tef marketing channels and analyze the factors affecting market outlet choices of tef producers in Dendi district.
Aims and Scope:
  1. Smallholders
  2. Market-outlets
  3. Multivariate Probit
  4. Tef
  5. Dendi
Lead Guest Editor
  • Addisu Getahun

    Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation, and Agricultural Economics, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Holetta, Ethiopia

Guest Editors
  • Asfaw Negesse Senbeta

    Agricultural Economics, Oromia Institute of Agricultural Research, Adami Tulu, Ethiopia

  • Dagnaygebawu Goshime Mekuria

    Agricultural Economics, Bule Hora University, Hagere Marry, Ethiopia

  • Yetagesu W/medhin Sorri

    Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation, and Agricultural Economics, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Jimma, Ethiopia

  • Asela Kesho Sako

    Crop Protection, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Holetta, Ethiopia

  • Dawit Milkias Kebede

    Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation, and Agricultural Economics, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Ambo, Ethiopia

  • Yitagesu Tadesse

    Department of Plant Pathology, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia