I
Understanding constraints and opportunities for the adaption
of mechanisation in the sesame production in Humera – an
innovation perspective
Author: Kilian Reutter Student number: S3237443 Year: 2018
Supervisors: Dr. B.J.W. Bartjan Pennink; Dr. M.M. Wilhelm
II 1 Table of contents 1 Table of contents ... II 2 List of figures/tables ... IV 3 Abstract ... VI 1 Introduction ... 7
2 Research question & Relevance ... 8
3 The unit of analysis: The case and its context ... 12
3.1 Context: Agriculture in Ethiopia ... 12
3.2 Sesame farming in Humera, Tigray, Ethiopia ... 14
3.2.1 History of sesame farming in Humera ... 14
3.2.2 Current situation of sesame farming in Humera ... 15
3.3 Tradin Organic & Selet Hulling ... 17
4 Theoretical Background ... 19
4.1 Adoption of innovations ... 19
4.1.1 Definition and concept of innovations ... 19
4.1.2 What are agricultural innovations and why are they important? .. 21
4.1.3 Factors for the adaption of innovations in the agricultural sector in developing countries ... 23
4.2 What is agricultural mechanisation and why is it important? ... 25
4.2.1 Social aspects of mechanisation ... 30
5 Methodology ... 31
5.1 Research design ... 31
5.2 Data collection ... 33
5.3 Sample ... 33
5.4 Data analysis ... 35
IV
2 List of figures/tables
List of figures
Figure 1: Rising wages for unskilled, daily labourers adopted from Berhane et al.,
2017 ... 13
Figure 2: Location of Humera, (“Google Maps,” 2018) ... 14
Figure 3 Vertical root growth due to plough pan ... 16
Figure 1: Land Productivity in Cereal Production (De Janvry & Sadoulet, 2010) ... 22
Figure 2: Influence factors for adaption according to Bain/ Acumen (Tam et al., 2016) ... 24
Figure 3: Impact of timeliness on yields, Adapted from Witney, 1988 in Gunnarsson, 2008 ... 29
List of tables: Table 1: Average size of agricultural holding in selected SSA countries; Own compilation, based on Lowder, Skoet, & Raney, 2016, with data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013 ... 12
Table 2: Cost for manual labour according to different sources ... 17
Table 3: Farmer sample ... 34
Table 4: Other actors sample ... 34
Table 5: Category system and definitions ... 37
Table 6: Key view points on advantage by farmers ... 41
Table 7: Key view points on awareness by farmers ... 42
Table 8: Key view points on socio economic factors by farmers ... 44
Table 9: Key view points on compatibilty by farmers ... 45
Table 10: Key view points on access by farmers ... 46
Table 11: Key view points on advantage by the other actors ... 47
Table 12: Key view points on awareness by the other actors ... 48
Table 13: Key view points on socioeconomic factors by the other actors ... 49
Table 14: Key view points on compatibility by the other actors ... 50
VI
3 Abstract
This thesis investigates the viewpoints of farmers and different stakeholder (actors) in an effort to introduce a machinery hire service in Humera, Ethiopia. The town is a remotely located with challenging weather and soil conditions but farmers possess significantly larger land holdings than usual. We add this thesis to the rather small body of literature that asses agricultural mechanization and apply a innovation perspective, inspired by the work of Rogers (2003) and Tam et al. (2016). We show that in critical aspects the views of actors engaged in mechanisation and the farmers diverge. Furthermore, we argue that the cooperation between an international agribusiness and its local suppliers can be a fruitful combination to introduce a machinery hire service.
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1 Introduction
With a worldwide population projected to reach 9.8 billion people in 2050, a strong increase in the productivity of the agricultural sector is necessary to feed this growing population and to avoid food shortages – the food demand is estimated to rise by up to 20% until 2030 (United Nations, 2017; World Bank Group, 2017). While agricultural production is already operating with high levels of efficiency in developed economies, there is still plenty of untapped upward potential in developing countries (Licker et al., 2010). These countries have shown high population growth rates in the past and are expected to be the main contributor to the future population growth until 2050 (United Nations, 2017).
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(1997) found that during over 100 years of the experiment, nothing affected the total factor productivity as much as the introduction of mechanisation in the form of a mechanical harvester. Mechanisation made the highly labour intensive cultivation of cotton more efficient and economical. This is just one of many examples that shows the potential of mechanisation on fostering agricultural growth. The second most important export crop of Ethiopia, Sesame, is like cotton also a highly labour intensive crop. Ethiopia is one of the most important countries for Sesame farming. Soaring prices due to high demand from Asia and the relative drought resistance of the plant make it an attractive cash crop for Ethiopian farmers (Francom, 2016). Agricultural growth also plays a major role in the countries’ agricultural-led growth strategy (Dorosh, 2012).
The author of this thesis and another student worked for three months as interns for the company Selet Hulling in Ethiopia. During that time, we prepared a business plan for the introduction of a machinery rental service in Humera (north-western Ethiopia), were the company sources its sesame. For this, we conducted market intelligence and analysis to better understand the local conditions and to explore mechanisation options. We gathered data on current costs and examined different machinery packages for the rental service. The underlying aim was to increase the yield per hectare as Selet Hulling could not meet the demand of its customers in recent years.
2 Research question & Relevance
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high demand for suitable and affordable mechanisation solutions from farmers and other stakeholders in the sesame production chain during our field research in Ethiopia. Despite the ongoing controversy, it is necessary that mechanisation realizes its potential in the intensification of agriculture in SSA in general, the FAO stated that “only through appropriate mechanisation African farmers will be able to feed not only themselves but also the continent’s burgeoning urban population” (FAO, 2008). A big share of the literature on the adaption of agricultural innovations has focused on technology adaption by smallholder farmers in developing countries (Doss, 2003). While the farmers in Humera are by no means rich, they have larger landholdings than usual for developing countries (see case description). Most of the agricultural research in Ethiopia concentrated on the highlands, with essentially different conditions and on other inputs such as fertilizer but not on mechanisation. However, for the successful adaption of an innovation, it is important that it is compatible with its environment and suits local conditions (Rogers, 2003), which in turn requires in-depth local knowledge. Berhane et. al. (Year) found in a recent study of mechanisation in Ethiopia that in other parts of Ethiopia an increasing trend on the adaption of mechanisation is observable but noted that empirical evidence is still scare.
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stakeholders involved in mechanisation, we opted for a qualitative research approach that allows us to capture a broader picture and answer not only what has constrained farmers in their adaption of mechanisation so far but also answer “why” questions. From a scientific as well as from a practical viewpoint, we found it necessary to gain a better understanding of the farmers' perspectives as well as the perspectives of other stakeholders. Farmers already mechanized ploughing decades ago but are stuck at this level ever since.
During the initial phase of our stay in Humera, four core areas were identified that seemed to represent the major influence factors on any mechanisation push via rental services in that area. During our project, we developed strategies to deal with all four of those factors. For this thesis, I will concentrate on the farmers' perspectives (highlighted red) and compare it with the perspectives of other actors relevant for any mechanisation effort. With this I take a step back from the more technically focused perspective of agricultural engineers and some economists in the literature and apply a perspective of mechanisation as an innovation and try to shed light on the following research question:
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Guided and inspired by the work of Rogers (2003) and Tam et al. (2016) on innovations and their adaption by farmers’ in developing countries the following sub-questions were developed:
• What is the perceived advantage for framers and how do other actors view it?
• How aware are farmers of the different aspects of mechanisation and where does this awareness comes from?
• How do farmers value and view compatibility and how do other actors see compatibility with the local circumstances?
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3 The unit of analysis: The case and its context
3.1 Context: Agriculture in Ethiopia
As in other developing countries, the majority of the Ethiopian farmers are smallholder farmers. On average 85% of farmers in developing countries are smallholders, Ethiopia has an even higher average, here 94% of farmers are smallholders. (Berhane, Dereje, Minten, & Tamru, 2017). The average landholding in Ethiopia and similar developing countries is rather small and mostly decreasing (Table 1).
Country
Average size of agricultural holding,
by decade Trend 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Ethiopia .. .. 1,4 0,8 1 decrease Kenya 11,7 4,1 2,5 .. .. decrease Madagascar 1 .. 1,3 .. 0,9 decrease Malawi .. 1,5 1,2 0,7 .. decrease
Tanzania, United Republic
of .. 1,3 .. 2,8 2,4 increase
Togo 2,6 1,4 1,5 .. 2 neither
Cote d'Ivoire .. 5 .. .. 3,9 decrease
Democratic Republic of the
Congo .. 2,3 .. 0,5 .. decrease
Senegal 3,6 .. .. .. 4,3 increase
Sierra Leone .. 1,8 1,6 .. .. decrease
Table 1: Average size of agricultural holding in selected SSA countries; Own compilation, based on Lowder, Skoet, & Raney, 2016, with data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013
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wheat. Those crops are cultivated in different regions, with sesame cultivation mainly located in the northwest (Berhane et al., 2017).
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3.2 Sesame farming in Humera, Tigray, Ethiopia
Figure 2: Location of Humera, (“Google Maps,” 2018)
3.2.1 History of sesame farming in Humera
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3.2.2 Current situation of sesame farming in Humera
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Figure 3 Vertical root growth due to plough pan
Larger, so-called investor farmers, rent out their tractors to cooperatives and other smaller farmers, who do not possess their own tractors. At the moment, there is no professional service available for the rental of tractors or other farm equipment. In addition to that, most smallholders are organized in cooperatives.
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Table 2 shows the costs for manual labour according to the local manager of Selet Hulling, a SBN report and the Fana cooperative manager.
Table 2: Cost for manual labour according to different sources
Selet Hulling
Organic
SBN
Non-Organic Fana
Field sanitation / Land cleaning cost
300,00 395 500,00 1st ploughing 350,00 324 350,00 2nd ploughing /planting 350,00 176 350,00 3rd ploughing 0,00 12 350,00 Seeding 225,00 98 400,00 Fertilizer application 0,00 385 0,00 Weeding 1st 1.000,00 1.089 700,00 Weeding 2 nd 1.950,00 1.008 700,00 weeding 3 rd 600,00 259 600,00 Harvesting 2.880,00 1.022 1.250,00 Threshing 300,00 259 320,00 Pp-bag 36,00 39 320,00 Transport 90,00 0 100,00 Total 8.081,00 5.066 5.940,00
3.3 Tradin Organic & Selet Hulling
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of different agricultural machineries into Ethiopia (e.g. combine harvesters and tractors from CLAAS Germany).
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4 Theoretical Background
4.1 Adoption of innovations
4.1.1 Definition and concept of innovations
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normally directly follow the decision stage. At the confirmation stage (5), the adopter reassures himself/herself that the use of the innovation is beneficial to him/ her. In our experience, most farmers encountered in Humera are at the end of the persuasion stage, willing to move to a decision. In the following we will focus on the perspectives of farmers, how they perceive mechanisation, what their situation is and compare that with the perspectives of other actors.
4.1.2 What are agricultural innovations and why are they important? After the clarification of the term innovation in the previous section, in the following section, we aim to more strongly integrate the term into our agricultural context and explain why the introduction of innovations can have strong impacts on the livelihood of farmers in developing countries.
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experienced a so-called Green Revolution following the introduction of modern agricultural practices and equipment. This resulted in an increased agricultural output and also reduced poverty in rural areas (Evenson, 2003; Rashid, Cummings, & Gulati, 2007). The figure below shows impressively how the land productivity in SSA remained, for the most part, unchanged since the 1960s while other regions experienced vital growth.
Figure 4: Land Productivity in Cereal Production (De Janvry & Sadoulet, 2010)
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4.1.3 Factors for the adaption of innovations in the agricultural sector in developing countries
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framework, they combined Prahalad’s factors access and availability within their definition of (constant) Access and added the factor Advantage. Within their survey, they found that the Advantage factor was the most influential factor in the adoption process of the farmers they interviewed (see figure 2).
Figure 5: Influence factors for adaption according to Bain/ Acumen (Tam et al., 2016)
In the literature, those factors are also backed by other studies. Lewis noted for example that farmers in his case in Bangladesh experienced significant benefits from tractor ploughing but struggled with gaining reliable access to service providers (Lewis, 1996). In a study which analysed disappointing adaption rates of improved rice varieties in SSA, lacking awareness was found to be the major factor for non-adaption (Diagne, 2010). The four A’s model is also employed by the Sesame Business Network, on different aspects of their work when it comes to the introduction of change.
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while farmers earn their money at the end. In accordance with research in other countries, the access to institutional finance was found to be a major determinant for the adaption of fertilizer and improved seeds by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia (Abate, Rashid, Borzaga, & Getnet, 2016).
The factors influencing the adoption of an innovation are also dependent on the characteristics of the innovation itself. Opposite to innovations like fertilizer or improved seeds, natural resource management or sustainable agriculture practices like crop rotation or minimum tillage is highly location specific (Lee, 2005). Lee found that the adaption of such practices was particularly successful when they specifically addressed "niche type" constraints that were location specific. This goes along with Rogers finding that an innovation has to be compatible with its environment to be successful. During our stay in Humera, we also encountered such location-specific constraints (see case description), and location-specific factors also play a significant role in mechanisation. Demonstrations perform two quite different functions (1) experimental demonstrations which are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovation under field conditions and (2) exemplary demonstrations which are conducted to facilitate diffusion of the innovation to other units (Myers, 1978 in Rogers 2003, p. 389). On-farm trials were found to be far more successful to ensure continued use then trials by agronomist in research centres. Learning by doing is more effective and leads to more realistic expectations then trials in research centres under perfect conditions. (Lambrecht et al., 2014)
4.2 What is agricultural mechanisation and why is it important?
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While most regions in the world use mechanical sources of farm power, most farmers in SSA still rely on human or animal power. Mechanized sources of power are rare and a shortage of available farm power is one of the major constraints for agricultural development in SSA (Sheahan & Barrett, 2014). In Ethiopia the power sources are similar to the rest of SSA with most of the farm power coming from draught animals (mostly oxen), followed by manual labour (Clarke, L., & Bishop, 2002). Based on our own observations, the situation in the Humera region differs from that, with oxen’s substituted by older tractors for ploughing and transportation while the rest of the farm power for other steps is still coming from manual labour. Mechanisation levels did not grow but decreased in most countries in SSA after failed government-led attempts to introduce mechanisation in the 1960s and 1970s. While the use of mechanisation decreased the use of other inputs such as fertilizers grew, even though application levels remain low in a global comparison. Mean fertilizer use in SSA grew from 7.54 kg per hectare in the years 1989–1990 to 7.92 kg per hectare between 1996–2000. (Mrema et al., 2008).
While the agricultural sector of Ethiopia grew by annually 9.3% in the recent period much of this growth can be attributed to the expansion of the agricultural area (Bachewe, 2012). The rest of the growth was attributed by Bachewe to a mix of increased use of inputs such as labour, fertilizer and pesticides and reduced inefficiencies. Unfortunately, mechanisation was not taken into account in this study but it was shown in other studies that mechanisation contributes to increases in the cultivated area (Mrema et al., 2008). The growth went along with rising adaption rates of machinery in certain areas of Ethiopia, even though overall adaption levels remained low (Berhane et al., 2017)
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constraints, besides the situation where they are combined with labour saving mechanisation technologies.
Possible ways for farmers who want to adopt modern agricultural machinery are either hiring in mechanisation services who provide ploughing or other operations as a service or outright buy the desired machinery and operate it themselves. One of the earlier examples of hiring services in mechanisation was documented by Hurt (1982). In the early state of agriculture in the United States, during the early 19th century, farmers used manual labour to thresh grain. When the first
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Figure 6: Impact of timeliness on yields, Adapted from Witney, 1988 in Gunnarsson, 2008
Houssou et. al (2013) identified that a low operational scale is the most important constraint to the profitability of tractor hire services, but acknowledged in a later paper that the provision of additional services leads to higher utilization rates and therefore higher profitability (Houssou, Diao, & Kolavalli, 2014). Furthermore, within this paper, they incorporated the reduction of timeliness risks into their model as a potential benefit of mechanisation. With an approach to mechanize not only ploughing but also planting, weeding, spraying and harvesting as well, the underutilization constraint would be marginalized for a hire service provision in the Humera region. Hiring a tractor or other services can also serve as a try out phase on the way towards tractor ownership, Cossar (2016) found that farmers who hired a tractor in the past are also more likely to buy their own tractor at a later point. In his study in Ghana, 85% of the tractor owners previously used tractor services for nine years before they decided to invest into their own tractor (Cossar, 2016).
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and bureaucracy (de Wilde, 1967; Seager and Fieldson., 1970; Kolawole, 1972; Lele, 1976; Eicher and Baker, 1982 in Mrema et al., 2008).
The World Bank conducted an assessment of the regulatory environment within the agricultural sector on different factors such as seeds, machinery or fertilizer. It was found that the level of institutional constraints on mechanisation in countries like neighbouring Kenya (29) or Sudan (24) are similar to Ethiopia (25). While the World Bank found a strong correlation between its machinery indicator, compiled from the assessment of practices and regulations on the importation, operation and testing and standardization, the mechanisation levels are higher in those countries. This might indicate that the source of low adaption rates are not bad policies and regulations, as Ethiopia does not score worse than its peers in the assessment of regulations concerning the financial sector and its credit provision (World Bank Group, 2017).
4.2.1 Social aspects of mechanisation
The introduction of modern machinery has not only effects on the farmer itself but also on the socio-economic environment in rural areas. Especially labour-saving technologies are suspected to contribute to rural unemployment in labour abundant economies (Mrema et al., 2008). However, there is the profound reason to believe that the effect does not happen in every case. When mechanisation leads to an increase in the area cultivated by relieving former labour or power constraints the demand for labour can even rise in the end as some steps in the production cycle are likely to remain unmechanised in the beginning of a gradual adoption. Furthermore, from a historical perspective, the migration of labour from the agricultural sector to other parts of the economy has been an important part of the industrialisation process (Johnston & Mellor, 1961). Ethiopia strategically industrialises its economy, with strong investments coming especially from China (Dorosh, 2012). Therefore, the demand for cheap labour is on the rise with a rising textile industry competing with the agricultural sector for labour which is also reflected in rising wages for agricultural workers. This might ease eventual reductions in the labour demand through mechanisation.
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progressive farmers with larger landholdings and the financial means to adopt new practices. This can lead to an increase in the gap between the already better off group of farmers and the smaller ones. The rental service in our case aims explicitly at also serving small to medium farmers in the area however and therefore might even contribute to closing this kind of gap.
In many developing countries, an exodus of young people to the urban centres is happening and rural areas are abandoned by young people who seek their luck outside of the agricultural sector. On the one hand, mechanisation can reduce the drudgery to make agriculture more attractive again, on the other hand, it reduces the required manpower (Leavy & Hossain, 2014; Mrema et al., 2008)
5 Methodology
5.1 Research design
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quantitative study in Ghana that the membership in a fertilizer promotion program increased try out rates but long-term adoption rates were lower for those farmers than for farmers who did not participate. They supposed that exaggerated expectations caused farmers to drop fertilizer after adopting it but were not able to come up with a properly founded answer to such “why” question. As Weiss (1994) put it:
“Quantitative studies pay a price for their standardized precision. Because they ask the same questions in the same order of every respondent, they do not obtain full reports. Instead, the information they obtain from any one person is fragmentary, made up of bits and pieces of attitudes and observations and appraisals. (p.20)”
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5.2 Data collection
Weiss (1994) described the benefits of interviewing as “obtaining access to the observations of others”. The interviews were designed in a semi-structured style with open-ended questions, which gave the interview partners enough room for a free and detailed response while enabling later comparison due to the structure provided by an interview guide (Gubrium, 2012 p. 195). The interviews were conducted with a translator which could lead to a potential bias by the translator and double interpretation. As we worked together on a daily basis for almost two months a good understanding between the researcher and the translator was developed so that he understood the major aspects of our work and our interests. Being a recent university graduate himself he also was familiar with the concepts of scientific research.
5.3 Sample
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Table 3: Farmer sample
Name Gender Age Hectare (own/ rented) Note Mulu Yirsaw female 56 2 / 4
Alifa Segede female 36 2 / 3
Andom Berhe male 50 60/ 30 Model farmer
Ferede Riskey Male 36 5 / 25 Model farmer
Weldu G/ezgiher male 42 6 / 6 Tesfay W/Gebriel male 61 5 / 15
To triangulate the perceptions of the farmers, as suggested by Yin(Yin, 2009) we consulted other stakeholders, such as the director of the mechanisation department of the Ethiopian agricultural ministry who directly reports to the minister of agriculture or consultants the area.
Table 4: Other actors sample
Interviewee Background information Interview type
Duration
André Overmars
Sells and promotes small, low tech machinery in developing countries, Dutch
Meeting notes
Aprox. 60 min
Helmut Spohn Representative for German, implement manufacturer, lives for forty years in Ethiopia, German
Informal interview Aprox. 180 min Tamiru Habate W/Mariam
Director of the mechanisation directorate of the agricultural ministry. Responsible for the nationwide promotion and
implementation of mechanisation
Semi structured
30 min
Dr. Gremew Manages the mechanisation efforts of SBN and coordinates them with the agricultural ministry
Semi structured
35 Fana
Cooperative Manager, Mola
Head of the cooperative management board
Semi structured
41 min
Haftom Tesfay Manager of a party owned
commercial farm with 40 modern tractors in Humera
Semi structured
26 min
5.4 Data analysis
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exactly define the material as the unit of analysis, to analyse the situation in which the material was collected which also entails the background of the interviewee and to describe the formal characteristics of the material(Mayring, 2010 p.53). In this study, this purpose was fulfilled by the case description and the description of the sample in sections 4 and 5.3.
5.5 Validity and reliability
Reliability in research concerns the question if researchers are executing their method of choice in the correct way and treat their data objectively. Doing so should lead to a replicability of the conducted research (Thomas, 2004). Combining qualitative content analysis with a case study can "contribute to adding and enhancing rigour, validity and reliability of case study research" (Kohlbacher, 2006). Validity can be divided into external and internal reliability. External variability concerns the generalizability of the research, internal validity the question if the research really portrays the reality (Thomas, 2004). Admittedly, the generalizability might be more limited as the conditions in Humera vary from the “average” developing country rural area. To ensure that the present research is representing a realistic, unbiased view on the situation, I gathered different perspectives (triangulation of sources). With this triangulation, I did not strive to prove that everyone has the same perspective instead exceptions were treated as important and illuminative (Quinn Patton, 2002).
6 Analysis
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Table 5: Category system and definitions
Category Sub category Definition Anchor example
Advantage Direct increase of generated revenue Aspect of mechanisation which farmers/ actors expect an advantage from he wants to own the harvester (…) he believes that rest of the activities he can do it with his own family, so he is decreasing all the expenses that he is occurring at the moment.
Reduction of costs
- His main interest is not in the yield but on the
process of
producing the sesame. He (…) and decrease the cost of labour. That's his main interest.
Other Other advantages
that farmers/ actors take into account besides direct financial aspects
38 Socioeconomic Financing from banks Access to credits from banks
“He said for him it is impossible to get so much money for credit Access to other
sources of
financing
Access to credits from other money
lenders or
relatives, savings
“She has a source from her family, her relatives” Young people in the agricultural sector Current and future role of young people
Oh god, there are too many, we have to many young people Awareness Sources of awareness
- (got the idea)
“from the
research center” Problem
awareness
Awareness for the need of a change in the production system
This year, he planted a crop for the first time he planted it on only for one hectare, (…) but he said it is good for the soil.
Try out Farmers
openness to new technologies
But the
agricultural
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Compatibility Local capabilities - We don't have enough operators. One operator is on 3 or 5 payrolls. he is working for different people - he will go were he gets the most money
Local Conditions Acceptance of small machinery
Access Aftersales There are few,
but we have many suppliers in the country, that are not
committed. They want to sell, one time job, the disappear, they hit and run. Local availability
Preferred way wo access
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7 Results
7.1 Farmers perspective
7.1.1 Advantage
Within Selet Hulling the main focus was on the comparison between current costs for farmers and the costs with mechanisation. Farmers, however, were more attracted to the possible yield increases of mechanisation. The highest interest that we experienced was for row planting, followed by proper ploughs. Row planting has been proven to improve yields and is a standard in developed countries, and has also been successfully tested in Humera.
The main reason is that she wants to increase the sesame production, she also wants the row planting because it is not too dense and it is easier to weed and the plants get the right nutrients. Mainly it’s the increase. (39)
Some farmers also hoped for better yields from proper ploughing. It has to be stressed that the breaking of the plough pan is a one-time effect that will enable plants to develop a longer root system and therefore improves plant growth. However, ploughing is normally not regarded as directly yield increasing. To avoid discontinuation due to disappointed expectations this should be explained to farmers by extension workers. Other benefits farmers expect from proper ploughing are better water holding capacity and a reduction in weeds, which also should lead to lower weeding costs.
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as they were not originally developed for sesame harvesting. Therefore, the planed rental service of Selet Hulling will not offer harvesting service in the beginning, at least until suitable equipment is identified and available.
Timeliness was also one of the most cited advantages of owning a tractor instead of renting one. Thus this concern should be addressed by any rental service.
“His main interest is not in the yield but on the process of producing the sesame. He wants to harvest on time, and decrease the cost of labour. That's his main interest.”
Table 6: Key view points on advantage by farmers
Advantage
Increase of income Cost reductions Other advantages
- Yield increase as the main benefit of mechanisation - Reduction of expenses for seasonal labour - Reduction of loses during harvesting - Improved timeliness of operations as benefit of tractor ownership 7.1.2 Awareness
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equipment. Farmers in our sample mostly rotated between sesame and sorghum, the awareness for the need for better rotational crops was low. Farmers are experimenting surprisingly much with different sesame varieties or different kinds of fertilizers but they are conducting those trials within their limits, the low triabilty, the high costs and the fact that mechanisation is not scale neutral, leading to a demand for demonstrated proven solutions. However, the fact that most farmers are experimenting to improve their production, and also our impression from other interactions with farmers point to a high awareness of farmers that their current way of producing is not optimal. The extension service of the government was the main source for most farmers, however, they promoted technologies such as row planting without considering that farmers have no access to it. In other cases, such as new varieties of sesame or a new rotational crop, farmers could access those seeds via the agricultural bureau. Looking at the different aspects of mechanisation, row planting was the aspect farmers were most aware of and interested in.
“The agricultural bureau always tells them to try out new things, especially row planting.
Did the agricultural bureau also say where she can get a row planter? No, they said they will provide, but they haven’t yet.” (16)
Two outliers were especially interesting. One farmer did travel to the Oromia region to observe demonstrations on harvesters for sesame. Considering the long travel time and the costs this is quite an effort. Another farmer stated that he would consult his trusted mechanic to learn which tractors are the most reliable. The observation of the behaviour of other farmers, especially the richer investor farmers were also sources of information for some of the farmers.
Table 7: Key view points on awareness by farmers
Awareness
Sources of awareness Problem awareness Trials
- Government extension services as the main source of awareness
- High interest to try out row planting
43 - Observation of other farmers as sources - Mechanics as source - Long distance travel to demonstrations
- Low awareness for crop rotation problem
- Small-scale try out of fertiliser
- Small-scale try out of row planting and deep ploughing
7.1.3 Socioeconomic
In this category, the source of finance was in focus to determine possible investment opportunities in mechanization technology, as well as the role of young people and their possible connection to mechanization. We observed that most farmers we encountered in the Selet Hulling office in Humera as well as in the fields were quite old. Thus, I was wondering about the next generation of farmers, as I sensed an unlikelihood of young people to enter into agriculture. (see 3.2.2). However, when this question was raised during our interviews the first reaction of the farmers was amusement as they perceived it the opposite way. They actually stated that there are too many young people coming into agriculture in Humera.
“Oh god, there are too many, we have too many young people he has kids, they have kids. His kids they have a job but besides there job, they also do farming activities. Also, other farmers children are really interested getting into this mechanisation to learn new technologies, to find new ways to get more profitable, we have a next generation (coming)” (60)
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“To get enough loans it takes a lot of procedures, and even after the procedures he won't get more than 20.000 because we are low farmers, we just own a small house, we have no assets.” (65)
Table 8: Key view points on socio economic factors by farmers
Socioeconomic Financing from banks Financing from other
sources
Young people in agriculture
- No access to credits due to the lack of collateral
- Financing from relatives - Considerable
savings
- Wish for payment in instalments
- Too many young people, more than enough to form the next generation of farmers
7.1.4 Compatibility
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Table 9: Key view points on compatibilty by farmers
Compatibility
Local capabilities Local conditions Acceptance of Small machinery - Capabilities of local mechanics - Proven machinery required - Compatibility to local conditions as a major factor for one farmer - Proven machinery required - Small tractors might not be compatible with local conditions - Even small machinery might be too expensive for some smaller farmers
7.1.5 Access
An investor farmer who lives most of the year abroad as an immigrant in a "first world country" outside Africa but owns 300 hectares in Humera and more than 1000 hectares in the Gambella region, went so far to travel to Great Britain to purchase used tractors and import them to Ethiopia. He smuggled repair parts from Sudan as he could find genuine parts there more easily and more cheaply than in Ethiopia. He did not want to be cited for obvious reasons. The farmers in the sample also cited local availability as a major constraint. Demonstrations (the first ones in 2007), extension services and the use by some investor farmers raised the awareness especially for row planting but so far farmers were not presented with opportunities to actually access such equipment. One farmer also cited the lack of spare parts for everything else than the 40-year-old Massey Ferguson tractors as a constraint.
“He said all the farmers here, they are really hungry for the machines, for the row planters and the deep plough, that is the latest issue, they are asking the government for help to get this machinery, "we can buy it from you, we can rent it from you, just bring it please" (50)
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preference of ownership. Any potential rental service has therefore to address this concern.
Table 10: Key view points on access by farmers
Access
Aftersales Local availability Preferred way of access - Availability of spare parts as requirement - High interest in mechanisation, but no access - Preference for tractor ownership - Timeliness as main benefit of tractor ownership 7.2 Other Actors 7.2.1 Advantage
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Table 11: Key view points on advantage by the other actors
Advantage
Increase of income Cost reductions Other advantages
- Yield increase as main benefit of mechanisation for cooperative leader - Investor farmers tend to invest in more land instead of more efficient production - Yield increases serves Selet Hulling’s interest to increase production volume - Reduction of seasonal labour main interest in Selet Hulling and seen as main benefit by most actors - Reduction of loses during harvesting mentioned by Agricultural ministry and SBN Director - Improved timeliness only recognized by Agricultural ministry, climate change increases need for timely operations
7.2.2 Awareness
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Table 12: Key view points on awareness by the other actors
Awareness
Sources of awareness Problem awareness Trials
- Demonstrations most important tool to spread awareness - Observation of other farmers as sources problematic - High awareness for problem of depleted soil and the need for better crop rotation - High interest from
government to commercialise sesame farming
- SBN conducted trials for different kind of machinery
7.2.3 Socioeconomic
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Table 13: Key view points on socioeconomic factors by the other actors
Socioeconomic Financing from banks Financing from other
sources
Young people in agriculture
- Lack of financing for farmers big bottleneck
- Misuse of funds for real estate speculation - Financing from relatives - Fana cooperative has considerable savings for a tractor purchase - Possibility to pay
Selet Hulling for the rental service with sesame at the end of the season
- Concern that young people turn away from agriculture found - Agricultural ministry is developing plans for a mechanisation project that provides jobs for the youth 7.2.4 Compatibility
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be rare. Most manufacturers developed their equipment to suit wheat, rice and other crops. The soft and oily sesame seeds tend to clog the distribution system of many planters. Sesame plants open the seed carrying capsules when the plant is ripe to distribute their seeds. This characteristic, described as shattering, complicates the mechanisation of harvesting.
Another factor that was viewed as critical by every actor we spoke to were the local capabilities of tractor operators and mechanics. Operators and mechanics need to be trained extensively. Well trained operators are also expected to reduce the potential of breakdowns as they handle the equipment more appropriately and can better react to signs of malfunctions.
Table 14: Key view points on compatibility by the other actors
Compatibility
Local capabilities Local conditions Appropriate machinery
- Capabilities of operators and local mechanics
- Quality is important due to extreme conditions
- Most tractors and equipment from manufacturers from emerging countries were found to have quality problems - Suitable machinery to plant and harvest sesame is difficult to obtain - Small-scale farmers cannot afford the smallest tractors.
7.2.5 Access
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“The problem is the availability of spare parts and also the provision of maintenance, most of the suppliers of the machinery, what they do is, they disappear, we have to have dependable suppliers who supply the machines and who should also do after sales services. And also at the same time, they should provide training. But most of the suppliers they are not of that kind. There are few, but we have many suppliers in the country, that are not committed. They want to sell, one time job, the disappear, they hit and run.”
The low availability of spare parts is also caused by lengthy import procedures. Also, suppliers are hesitant to build up high stocks of spare parts as this increases the capital commitment. The problems with the mechanical harvesting of sesame would be best solved by the introduction of varieties that keep their seed capsules closed, so-called non-shattering varieties. Such varieties are however only available in countries like the United States.
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Table 15: Key view points on access by the other actors
Access
Aftersales Local availability Preferred way of access
- Aftersales as important criteria for the choice of suppliers
- Hit and run attitude of many suppliers - Non-shattering varieties only available in the United States. - Importers of spare
parts face lengthy procedures for import licenses
- Private service providers as
solution for farmers who can not afford the necessary initial investment - Rental service
should target small to medium-sized farmers as larger farmers have the money to buy their own machinery
8 Discussion
In this chapter, the two groups will be further compared and the outcomes will be linked to the introduction of the rental service of Selet Hulling.
8.1 Advantage
What is the perceived advantage for framers and how do other actors view it?
The first sub-question concerned the perceived advantage and the viewpoints of farmers and other actors on this topic. We hope that we so far made a convincing case that rental services can be a sustainable way to mechanize smallholders and that can also have other positive impacts.
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actors concerned with mechanisation both share the concern over rising labour costs. It is assumed that mechanisation generally does not directly improve yields, as there is typically no significant difference in yields between tillage with hand hoes, animal traction, and tractors. The exception to this is where heavy soils cannot be tilled by hand and where mechanized ploughing can better incorporate crop residues (Pingali, Bigot, and Binswanger 1987). We found indications that the conventional wisdom that tractor ploughing does not increase yields might not hold for Ethiopia. In Humera, farmers created a plough pan with the unsuitable disc ploughs they have been using for decades. According to Mr. Mariam, this can be also observed in other parts caused by centuries of the traditional Maresha ploughing. To break this plough pan tractor ploughing is necessary, and the removal of the plough pan would increase plant growth. Accordingly, the agricultural ministry places high importance on land preparation. Most of the farmers we encountered were also aware of this. Mechanisation may also improve yields indirectly by inducing the adoption of complementary technologies and allowing time-sensitive operations to be completed during the appropriate intervals (Diao et al., 2016).
The rental service that Selet hulling is planning to introduce needs to account for the fact that farmers are highly concerned about the timeliness of their operations. The service will need to reassure farmers of its capabilities to perform the contracted operations on time. To be able to do so, the service has to limit itself to the area it can cover and resist the temptation to contract more land than it can actually work on.
8.2 Awareness
How aware are farmers of the different aspects of mechanisation and where does this awareness come from?
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demonstrated yet. All actors agree that demonstrations are the best way to convince farmers of new technologies which is in accordance with the literature. The awareness of the need for better rotational crops to increase soil fertility and the income of farmers was high among the actors, but low among farmers. Extension services should thus pay more attention to it. Selet Hulling expects the highest benefit for farmers will be the labour savings during weeding. The low awareness for this possibility makes it necessary to increase the awareness for the possibility to mechanize this step. Selet Hulling will need to perform similar activities for the demonstrations and trials of mechanised weeding as it has conducted them with row planting in the past. Otherwise, farmers will be hesitant to adopt and effects on farmers income might be smaller than desired. It would also lead to an underutilization of the services tractor capacities.
8.3 Socioeconomic
How do farmers and other actors view the financial aspects? Are farmers or the other actors concerned about social impacts?
When entering the field, we were curious if the larger landholdings and the strong economic growth in Ethiopia would result in improved access to financing for farmers. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Farmers, as well as all other actors, see the low credit supply as one of the major constraints. This is consistent with the findings in the literature. However, some farmers and also the Fana cooperative accumulated surprisingly high savings. A rental service by Selet Hulling would reduce the farmers need for capital during the season as the farmers have the possibility to pay the service with a share of their harvest at the end of the season.
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pressure on major cities, with the aim to foster rural development (Gardner, 2017; Müller, 2018). Setting up tractor hire services in those towns can create much-needed job opportunities for skilled labourers. This was also recognized by the Agricultural ministry, wanting to implement a project that encourages young people to set up their own hire service. It has to be said that those plans surprised us, as we expected that the government would be more reluctant to promote technologies that reduce the demand for unskilled labour. Seemingly, they acknowledge the problem of unemployment among educated young people. The service of Selet Hulling would also provide job opportunities. Combining it with an agribusiness bears the advantage that within such a business more opportunities can be found for off-season employment.
8.4 Compatibility
How do farmers value and view compatibility and how do other actors see compatibility with the local circumstances?
Farmers address the compatibility issue by requiring machinery that they perceive as proven. This can be either the successful implementation by peers or demonstrations. While just one farmer cited the compatibility with local conditions, this was of much greater concern for all the other stakeholders. Machinery needs to be appropriate to local conditions, quality and the aftersales service should be of main concern. We adopted this view also in the business plan that we wrote for Selet Hulling. The local capabilities were much of a concern when we developed the business plan as well as for the actors on all levels. The need for training was widely acknowledged and solutions like training from manufacturers for operator and mechanics or cooperation’s with the local polytechnical school were sought.
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to local conditions as well as well as to sesame seeds was identified. This equipment was more expensive than most other options, however, the service was calculated to nevertheless be profitable with an acceptable price for farmers. The high initial investment would probably be too high even for most investor farmers though. However, Selet Hulling has the financial resources to cover such an investment.
8.5 Access
Another discrepancy that we discovered was the preference for ownership as the way to access tractors and equipment on the farmers' side and the preference for providing access with a rental model on the side of the actors. As main benefit for the ownership of tractors, timeliness of operations was cited. However, a high investment risk for farmers due to little knowledge concerning mechanisation and resulting possible unsuitable equipment purchases is present. We suppose that this concern stems from the low availability of the current, old tractors that farmers are currently renting via the informal rental system.
9 Conclusion
With this thesis, we did not only strive to extend a certain theory or obtain a degree but also to give the farmers a voice in the discussion. We found different, interesting viewpoints and hope to have them done justice. We showcase that there is still a long way ahead for the successful implementation but that the first steps were made, and we highlight the importance of solutions that are tailored to specific local conditions and resulting needs.
One of the main contributions of this thesis is that we show how the collaboration between an agribusiness like Selet Hulling with its parent company trading organic, and a farmers’ cooperative can help to counter many of the constraints normally faced when introducing an innovation like mechanisation.
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an investment in mechanisation. Should those farmers opt to purchase a tractor instead of renting the next years as a start we hope that they will make the right decision but are afraid that they need support in their decision making. Neutral agencies like the governmental extension service should consult them on adequate tractor size and which suppliers have proven to be reliable partners. The major constraint for them will nevertheless be the absence of suppliers or dealers in the area. We suppose that this stems from its remote location, but we also found during our work for Selet Hulling that most dealers and suppliers could do better when it comes to business attitude and professionalism in general. We experienced this even though we were interested to purchase a number of tractors and arranged meetings in Addis Ababa. For individual farmers located in Humera, it will be almost impossible to get offers from different dealers.
Mrema (2008) stated that “the exodus of forward-looking, entrepreneurial and innovative young people will continue until the nature and image of farming changes.” An example for this was also our translator, a recent university graduate, with very good English skills and an entrepreneurial mindset left Humera again to work in a bank close to Mekele, the largest city in Tigray province. We were impressed by the plans to create something like mechanisation startups and sincerely hope that they will materialize.
10 Limitations
The focus on the situation in Humera of this study is at the same time a limitation of this study. A comparison with other remote areas in Ethiopia would be an interesting extension to check if the same issues occur there as well. Adding more cases, maybe at different stages in the implementation process would enhance the validity. Another limitation is the limited time frame, we just observed the current situation, and the beginning of the introduction process. A longitudinal study that monitors the developments over a longer time frame would provide a better picture of the actual impact of the efforts described in this paper.
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