Gathering data and offering choice for Agriculture in Ethiopia

Soil mapping

The ATA is also working on mapping soil types in a project called EthioSIS.  “Ethiopia has been using the same fertilizer for 35 years, just DAP (diammonium phosphate) and urea,” explains Khalid, “and the soils are no longer responsive to it.”  By the end of the year, the ATA will have a map of the entire country that illustrates nutrient deficiencies at the micro-district level.

This will allow it to develop appropriate fertilizer blends.  Furthermore, The ATA is also linking farmers to markets.  In 2012, it brokered a deal between the World Food Program and cooperatives in Oromia and Amhara for a 30,000 ton maize purchase in 2012 and it has also helped connect Mama Fresh Injera, an Addis Ababa bakery, to the Erer Farmers Cooperative Union.

Khalid concluded, “It’s a risk for farmers to shift to a more commercial mindset. Part of our job is to offer different kinds of choices to farmers, based on the agro-ecology of the area, by finding out what the market wants and ultimately letting farmers make rational choices, like people all across the world do.”

Source: The Africa Report