AGRI-BUSINESS FINANCE FAIR: MEKELLE, 2013
AGRI-PROFOCUS WITH MEKELLE UNIVERSITY/ INTEGRATED SEED SECTOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
POST EVENT EVALUATION REPORT
PREPARED BY:
DR FETIEN ABAY (ISSD – TIGRAY SCIENTIFIC COORDINATOR)
MR TSEGAB MELES (KNOWLEDGE SHARING & CAPACITY DEV’T INNOVATOR)
MR BESHIR AHMED (PROJECT ADMINISTRATOR)
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SEPTEMBER 2013
MEKELLE, ETHIOPIA
Table of Content
1. Introduction
2. Objective of the Fair
3. Participants Overview
3.1 Finance Institutions
3.2 Capacity Builders
3.3 Visitors
4. Methodologies of the Fair
4.1 Before the finance fair event
4.2 During the finance fair
4.3 Next day/post event activities
5. Mekelle FF: an Overview
6. Results of Post Event Evaluation
6.1 Results from Banks/MFIs with Recommendations
6.1.1 Interpretation of each question
6.2 Results from Visitors with Recommendations
7. Pictorial References
Annex 1: Acronyms
Annex 2: List of Mekelle FF participants
1. Introduction
Mekelle finance fair was the fourth event after Jimma, Hawassa and Behirdar. It was organized in collaboration with Integrated Seed Sector Development project and Agri-Hub Ethiopia. In the first three finance fairs agricultural input providers, micro finance institutes, banks, Non- governmental organizations, capacity builders, farmer cooperatives, unions and private seed producers participated. In the fourth finance fair from the lessons and experiences gained similar fashion was applied.
The idea of organizing finance fair was initiated by Agri-Hub Ethiopia and Integrated Seed Sector Development Tigray unit accepted the idea and shared cost to organize. To conduct an effective finance fair the support and advice of Agri-Hub was instrumental. Core members were set to oversee the overall organization of the finance fair and were discussing on identification of participants and preparations needed.
Most of the core team members were not very much familiar with the concept of the finance fair. Two individuals who have observed the Behirdar finance fair in addition to Agri-Hub Ethiopia were resource persons in providing ideas to the core members.
The finance fair was initially planned to take place on August 17-18, 2013 but it was a challenge to the committee to get everything ready and was decided to postpone it by one week. A similar challenge was also encountered by Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development to extend it by another week. However, Integrated Seed Sector Development and Agri-hub Ethiopia insisted and decided to conduct it on August 24-25, 2013.
The detail activities of the finance fair and field visit in addition to the feedbacks given by participants and visitors will be presented in detail in the next pages.
2. Objective of the finance fair
The finance fair was organized with the following objectives:
To create a forum where by both finance institutions and farmers cooperatives come close together and know each other on their capacity and credit worthiness
To link finance providers and credit seekers for a better partnership and better benefit;
To create the awareness of cooperatives and private producers on the prerequisites needed to get credit;
To create a partnership among cooperatives, input providers and financial institutions (In the finance fair input providers like supplier of tractors, water pump, fertilizers etc will be involved);
To influence financial institutions to modify their credit access criteria to cooperatives and small scale private seed producers;
Enhance the policy dialogue on system constraints in the financial service sector;
Create space where banks, Micro finance institutions and capacity builders display their products and services that they have to offer to farmers;
To influence bankers to see seed as a profitable business;
To introduce the concept of promoting oneself and get partner for a better success in one’s business;
To let both finance institutions and farmer cooperatives exhaust the available information that can help them work closely.
3. Participants Overview
The finance fair was the fourth event in the country after Jimma, Hawassa and Behirdar. It was organized by Mekelle University Integrated Seed sector Development and Agri-Hub Ethiopia. The fiancé fair had two major components:
Finance fair which was held on August 24, 2013 at the main campus of Mekelle University: Market Place and Paper Presentation & Discussion; and Filed visit which was organized for financial institutes and it was held on August 25, 2013 at Southern Zone Endamokoni woreda /Hirity Mekan site and at Ayba site. The cooperatives took the visitors to their site and showed the type of seed they planted and the way they try to maintain quality of the seed. They also showed their way forward.
3.1 Mekelle finance fair which was conducted on August 24, 2013 at the main campus of the university: Bankers, Micro finance institutions, public institutions, private investors and farmer cooperatives have participated. Buna International Bank has actively participated in both booth display and paper presentation. Dedebit Credit and Saving Institute also actively participated in booth display and paper presentation. Similarly Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Mekelle Branch also actively participated in both booth display and paper presentation. They came with their paper money to demonstrate the Banking services.
3.2 The other parties who were involved in the finance fair are Development Bank of Ethiopia Northern Region Branch, Wegagen Bank Mekelle branch; Ethiopian Seed Enterprise and Bureau of agriculture agricultural input core process owner displayed the service they provide to the farming community.
3.3 At the finance fair Buna International Bank came with various flyers and promotion white caps which added color to the event. The finance fair was also celebrated colorfully by ‘’Niyat’’ Band and Mekelle University ‘’Ashenda Folklore Team’’. They presented different cultural musical performances which motivated the farming community to dance and rejoice.
The finance fair was arranged at the parking lot of the university management building and it was very convenient to manage easily and to let visitors observe the fair. Banners were displayed at the squares of Mekelle city and at the main gate of the university campus ahead of time.
Integrated Seed Sector Development also displayed its own banners to mark the event and also distributed booklets and flyers to visitors. The participating organs were promoted in the flyers published by Agri-Hub and some of them were also published at the catalogue published by Agri- hub. Some financial institutes failed to send their logo and profile and missed the opportunity of promoting their organization. They missed it partly for lack of time and partly for lack of awareness on the advantage of the catalogue.
Mekelle university staffs, representatives from micro and small scale enterprise, internal revenue authority, cooperative and marketing agency, Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development were represented in the finance fair. Their presence was very helpful to give suggestions during discussion session. For instance the internal revenue authority representative has given an explanation on how tax exemption is allowed and the procedures needed to have a clear documentation to levy a fair tax.
Different visitors were also included in the finance fair. Medias from Ethiopia Radio and Television Agency, representative of private investors, leaders of seed producer cooperatives drawn from all forty one (41) cooperatives three members each, Six (6) customers of Dedebit Credit and Saving Institute, Mekelle University summer students visited and enjoyed the show.
In the second day a field visit was organized for financial institutions with the objective of enabling financial institutions to see the actual capacity and performance of seed producer cooperatives and to see whether they are credit worthy or not.
4. Methodology
The methodology utilized to organize the finance fair was as follows:
4.1 Before the finance fair
First Agri-Hub Ethiopia and ISSD experts agreed on the need to organize finance fair and agreed to approach financial institutions and explain the advantage of organizing the event. Financial institutions who have a federal nature were familiar with the previous experiences and it was easy to convince them while those who have a regional nature were positive but with ambiguity. After approaching them and explaining the objective an urgent meeting was called and a core team was established.
The composition of the core members was from both public and private institutions. Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Mekelle branch, Wegagen Bank Mekelle Branch, Development Bank of Ethiopia Northern Region Branch, Dedebit Credit and Saving Institute, Agricultural Transformation Agency Tigray Branch, Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, Agricultural Input core process owner, Integrated Seed Sector Development, Agri-hub Ethiopia and USAID/AG-AMDe were the members.
The core members met three times and have passed several decisions. Number of participants were decided by the core embers and it was agreed that all private banks who have branches in Mekelle shall participate, NGOs and UN agencies who are working on food security and access to agriculture shall be invited, local credit institutes, Unions, key bureaus like trade and Industry, Bureau of Agriculture, Bureau of finance and economic development, Marketing federation, Private companies were identified.
The committee also agreed that the invitation letter has to be prepared by Mekelle University and it has to be signed by the university president. The invitation letter was prepared and sent to Agri-hub Ethiopia to be distributed in Addis Ababa for federal institutions and the rest was filled and distributed by MU-ISSD.
The committee also agreed that the participating institutions shall cover all their expenses and if possible they shall sponsor the fair. In the invitation letter the details of the fair, objective of the fair, contact person for further information, deadline for logo submission, format for profile of respective institutions was attached and dispatched.
The core committee further discussed on the number of papers to be presented, how the presentation shall be conducted, what media of communication to use, whom to invite as a guest of honor and who to close the fair. The committee decided four papers to be presented, two from Addis Ababa and two from Tigray. It was also agreed that the finance fair and the paper presentations shall be conducted consecutively. With the summer rain it was agreed that the fair shall be on the morning session and the paper presentation on the afternoon session. It was also agreed that the paper presentation shall be done on the same hall and the media of communication shall be Amharic.
Regarding the guest of honor president of the regional government was planned to open the finance fair and the university president to close the finance fair. The committee also agreed to arrange field visit to Southern zone Endamokoni woreda, Hirity Mekan and Ayba seed producer cooperatives.
The committee also decided MU-ISSD to arrange bus for the field visit and Agri-hub to cover fuel and per diem of driver and assistant driver. The committee also gave assignment to MU-ISSD to deal with catering at the university cafeterias and to arrange tents for the show with chairs and tables.
The committee also decided to use Ethiopia radio and television for promotion and FM 102.2 for local promotion and Woyen Newspaper for printed promotion. Similarly, banners were also recommended to be posted at the city square and main gate of the university.
4.2 During the finance fair
As planned the invited financial institutions who volunteered to participate in the finance fair took their booth according to their time of arrival at the market place. The first was Development
Bank of Ethiopia, Buna International Bank, Dedebit Credit and Saving Institute, Ethiopian Seed Enterprise, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Wegagen Bank, Agricultural input process owner and finally Integrated Seed Sector Development project displayed their material for the show.
The invited guests and members of seed producer cooperatives were given badge and catalogue of the finance fair and were ready for the show. The finance fair participants were welcomed by Dr. Fetein Abay, scientific coordinator of Integrated Seed Sector Development and the finance fair was officially opened by Dr. Abdelkadir Kedir, vice president for research and community services. He was accompanied by Dr. Fetien Abay and visited each display area. Following his visit members of the seed producer cooperatives and other invited visitors paid a visit to each financial institute. The financial institutes explained their banking system and distributed flyers and answered to questions forwarded by the visitors. Due to overlap of programs, the regional state president and the university president were not able to attend the finance fair and the schedule was readjusted to be handled by the university vice president for research and community services. The closing speech was also made by the Dr. Amsalu Ayana, National Director of Integrated Seed Sector Development Ethiopia program.
The finance fair display was carried out in the morning session and it was colorfully celebrated by Niyat band and Ashenda folklore team. After the show was over Agri-Hub Ethiopia hosted lunch for all participants at the university campus.
In the afternoon session four papers were presented and as an introduction a video show which reflects the activities of Tigray Integrated Seed Sector Development was presented. Following the video show a paper which shows the achievements scored at national and regional level and the challenges faced in accessing to finance was presented by the National Director of Integrated Seed Sector Development Ethiopia Program, Dr. Amsalu Ayana and the regional coordinator Dr. Fetien Abay respectively.
Buna International Bank also presented a paper on the historical background of the Bank and on its strong performance and bigger number of shareholders it has. It also reaffirmed its commitment to expand and provide better financial service to the society. It was indicated that the bank provides credit for borrowers of various economic sectors including agriculture.
Dedebit Credit and Saving Institute also presented a paper about its experience in rural financing. They stated the following objectives of the institute: to improve food security, create job opportunity and stimulate the local economy by offering efficient financial service to the poor.
The last one was presented by commercial bank of Ethiopia. The bank showed the growth and transformation program and the role of agriculture in uplifting industry and the economy as a whole and suggested the need for finance to stimulate the fast growing economy. The bank representative stressed that commercial bank of Ethiopia credit policy gives high emphasis to agricultural financing. He disclosed that the bank is providing credit to farmer cooperatives if the credit demand is beyond the scope of micro finance institutions. It was noted that if the activity is viable and valuable for the economy it is possible to provide credit without collateral. The bank representative clearly indicated that the cause of low credit access is due to low level of awareness, information gap and high collateral value requested by banks among others.
After the presentations were made the floor was open for discussion. During the discussion the following were the major questions asked to the financial institutions. Why are banks not recognizing stores built at the country side as collateral? “We lack big market for lack of credit to buy truck and transport to the market area.” Why don’t banks give credit to rice producing cooperatives to buy rice processing machine? “We are producing a lot but we are not benefiting from our produce for lack of processing and cleaning it to be sold in shops.”
The Bankers gave answers to the raised questions and advised cooperatives to consult Banks before constructing store and other investments. Dedebit Credit and Saving Institute also disclosed the leasing system and the rate of credit have been increased to 35,000 Birr per head. The Bankers also remarked that there is no formal credit request made by the farmers.
Finally the finance fair workshop was closed by Dr. Amsalu Ayana. In his closing speech he said the finance fair was very educational and eye opener. We were simply talking about lack of access to credit without closely discussing and approaching financial institutions. This event gave us an opportunity to consider financial institutions as key stakeholders. From today onwards we will include financial institutions in our workshops and experience sharing forums, he reiterated.
4.3 Post finance fair/ field day
According to the plan financial institutions were taken to the field to see how the seed producer cooperatives are working and assess whether they are credit worthy or not. The visit was done on August 25/2013 to the Southern Zone of Tigray around 120 kilometers away from Mekelle. At the field visit Wegagen Bank, development Bank of Ethiopia Northern Region branch, Dedebit Credit and Saving Institute and cooperative agency, Agri-Hub Ethiopia staffs, Integrated Seed
Sector Development National Program director, Tigray Integrated Seed Sector Development scientific coordinator and staffs and Mekelle University Staff participated.
The first visit was made on Ayba and the team saw the crops they plant in cluster and the quality controlling mechanism they are performing in weeding their farm. Ayba seed producer cooperatives sow Fetina barley variety, wheat and faba bean. They are very happy about their crop and hoped to get better produce in the harvesting season.
The second visit was made at Hirity Mekan Seed Producer \cooperatives. The cooperative was established by the support of Integrated Seed Sector Development program four years ago. They presented their business plan to the visiting team and their financial document was assessed by the financial institutions.
The field visit was conducted where 12 hectare of land was planted in cluster and the total area coverage was 43 hectare with three varieties of wheat (degelu, kekeba and becaflor)
The most critical challenge of the cooperative was access to credit and low capacity in handling financial documents.
The seed cleaning machine given to the cooperatives and the store they constructed was also observed and bankers suggested that the cooperative could be promising credit taker. Their financial document and the increasing number of members is a positive indicator for their credit worthiness.
The seed cleaning machine which is worth about Birr 200,000.00 (two hundred thousand) was said to be good collateral to get credit. They were also advised to become members of unions so as to take credit. The Mekelle University staff noticed the limitation in application of accounting principles in their financial document and promised to provide training on application of accounting principles and preparation of operational budget to the members of cooperatives. The Dedebit Credit and Saving Institute also promised to provide technical assistance through their field officers to the seed producer cooperatives on preparation of financial statement and other accounting techniques.
The field visit was very helpful for both the cooperatives and financial institutions to look a way of partnering and accessing credit so as to improve their efficiency.
5. Mekelle Finance Fair: an overview
The finance fair was organized for the first time in Tigray and to see the feedbacks of visitors and participants an evaluation format was developed by Agri-hub Ethiopia and it was commented and enriched by the core members. Two evaluation questionnaires were prepared; one for financial institutions and one for visitors. Four data collectors were selected and orientation on how and whom to give the questionnaire was provided by Agri-Hub Ethiopia staff. The questionnaires were filled after the finance fair show was over and after the paper presentation was conducted. Six (6) from financial institutions and 31 from visitors a total of thirty seven (37) were approached by the data collectors.
To analyze the result four members were selected and it was agreed the report to be completed by the mid of September 15, 2013. An agreement was signed and the data was handed over for analysis to the committee.
6. Results of Post Event Evaluation
The results of the post event evaluation are presented as follows:
6.1 Results from Banks/MFIs with Recommendations
The first one was related with banks and micro finance institutions. The first question was focusing on the motive that initiate them to participate in the finance fair and two (2) of them (33.3 %) said to learn about the finance need of farmers and for (4) of them (66.6%) also said to provide information about their agricultural finance to potential customers. Generally the finance institutes value the finance fair as a forum for learning and building better partnership. Majority of them (66.6%) said the seed fair was fruit full and found it to be beyond their expectation. One third of them said the finance fair partially fulfilled their expectation. The reasons given by those who were satisfied is the participation of MFI and farmer cooperatives and those who were not fully satisfied mentioned that few banks participated and criticized the organization of the finance fair as weak. Since the finance fair is the first of its kind in the region and since such practices are not common it can be said that the event was successful and good lessons were learned. Moreover, based on the lessons learned things will be improved in the future.
The financial institutions believed that this event will result in the range of 40,000.00 up to 100, 000.00 with the average amount of 500.00 up to 20,000.00 loans. These shows the financial
institutions foresee a good partnership to be established among banks and seed producer cooperatives.
The financial institutions appreciated most the awareness of farmers, the presence of musical band and Ashenda folklore team, appropriate selection of participants, organization of finance fair for the first time in Tigray were some among others.
4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 very poor 2 poor 1,5 average 1 good 0,5 very good 0
Fig.1 Rating Scale Given by MFIs
From the above graph we can understand that the overall setting of the finance fair was encouraging. The weaknesses observed are on organization and time setting. The short comings observed on the organization were that there were no mechanisms utilized to organize farmers into small groups to effectively exploit the finance fair. They were observing the finance fair in unorganized way; some of them were observing the music band and Ashenda folklore team. Some also commented that the Ashenda team and music band overwhelmed the finance fair. Some also commented on the time setting, they do not prefer it to be in summer and wished it to be in other season.
The other elements were evaluated to be good and the organizing committee also admits that as it is the first of its kind in the region conducting the finance fair and meeting its goal as intended was really a success. Selection of participants, the atmosphere, the catering, the overall organization, the discussions and booth arrangement were good.
The finance institutes also replied that the show was encouraging and they would like to take part in the next finance fair. They showed their commitment to participate even by paying a fee if need be. This shows that there was no any disappointment, they have seen it as a good opportunity and would like to maximize it. They believe that the finance fair will bring an additional customer and further promote their institute to take a lion’s share in the agricultural finance.
The financial institutes finally recommended the following points to be considered in the next finance fair:
In the next finance fair a better place shall be selected;
All stakeholders should take part in the finance fair;
More participants should be invited;
Timing and coordination should be improved;
Serious planning is needed, there should be plan A and B, if plan A fails to work you can use the alternative plan B;
The explanation given by banks should be improved and enable everyone to clearly understand the finance system of each institution;
The catering should be improved, wider space is needed to accommodate all in a short time;
The evaluation given by the finance fair was as follows:
6.2 Results from Visitors with Recommandations
Category A: Evaluation given by visitors without using rating scale
This evaluation category involves nine (9) male and one (1) female respondents, a total of ten (10). Half of them came in group and the rest half came alone. All of them said their purpose of coming to the finance fair was to search general information about finance. All of them also said that they are very much satisfied by the content of the finance fair. The reason they gave for their satisfaction was that they shared experience during the event.
sex
0% 0%
10%
male female
90%
Fig.2 the sex distribution of visitors
During the finance fair visitors were asked to indicate the number of partner finance institutions they discuss with and put it as follows. 20 % each said they have discussed with five (5) and six (6) financial institutions. 30% of them said they have discussed with three (3) financial institutions. 10% each also indicated that they discussed with 1 financial institution respectively. This shows that every visitor effectively used his/her visiting time for acquiring pertinent information regarding to agricultural finance and credit access. The difference in the frequency of discussion might mean that some of them want to compare and contrast the different mechanisms about access to credit and others might be satisfied with the initial information they got. From this one can conclude that the finance fair was a fruitful event.
To concretize the above points the visitors were asked to pinpoint the concrete results they got out of the finance fair. 20% of the visitors replied that from the finance fair they better understood the condition required to get loan and the remaining 80% confirmed that from the finance fair they got several interesting information concerning financing farmers. This shows how the finance fair was very crucial in filling the information gap between credit suppliers and credit seekers which the finance fair was targeting to address.
Visitors were also asked whether they have any follow up plan or not. All of them replied that they do have a plan and described their plan as follows: strengthening seed producer cooperatives continue producing quality seed, introducing accounting system, introducing
irrigation, taking credit from financial institutions were some of the follow up activities among others.
Regarding suggestions of visitors on something missing or something they want to see different in the next fair was a simple appreciation of the event and want it to be kept up; nothing was missed and suggested to continue as it is. From here it can be suggested that the experience of visitors on finance fair is limited and consider the event as perfect. However, the core members admit that the event had limited number of finance institute participants and there were no agricultural machinery supplier companies. The core committee wished the next fair to look more different by increased number of participants of financial institutions and input supply companies.
Finally the visitors recommend the following points to be considered when finance fair is organized in the future:
The finance fair should be scaled up;
Such finance fair should continue to be organized annually;
The finance fair should be solely arranged for farmers and the summer students should not be allowed to observe the show. They crowed the observation and it was a bit inconvenient for the farmers to attentively listen to the explanations given by bankers;
It should be organized for the whole community not for cooperatives only;
Category B: The rating scale given by visitors.
This category evaluated the finance fair and gave their feedback as follows:
Regarding the primary motive that initiated them to participate in the finance fair was 71% said what competitors are doing in the agricultural market, 19% said to learn about finance needs of farmers and 5% each said to make a deal with partners, to provide information about agricultural finance and to get new account holders respectively.
From this it is possible to understand that all visitors had a motive behind and no one came for fun. This indicated the purposeful participation of visitors in the finance fair and the selection was quite appropriate in identifying relevant ones. For the majority the finance fair was beyond expectation and was found to be very important. It is only 5% who said that the finance fair was
worthy partially. Their view is genuine because the finance institutions were relatively few and might not fully satisfy visitors especially those who have an exposure to such finance fair may not fully address their need.
The above idea was further strengthened by the response they gave to the question which says, “Was you’re coming to the finance fair worth doing?” The result was as shown in the pie chart.
worth of finance fair
above expectation completely partially not at all
5% 5% 19%
71%
Fig.3 worth of participation in the finance fair
The visitors were asked to explain why the finance fair was worthy or not to them and listed their reason as follows: I have identified key partners, I have identified credit providers other than Dedebit Credit and Saving Institute, I know where the credit providers are found, I have got knowledge as how cooperatives should work, got a lesson on how to work with MFIs, farmers got enough knowledge on how they should save, observed varieties of seeds were some among others. From the justifications given it can be inferred that the visitors narrowly understood Dedebit Credit and Saving Institute as the sole institute which provide credit and from the finance fair they realize that additional finance institutions also provide credit. So it can be concluded that the finance fair was an eye opener to the visitors.
The visitors were also asked to list what they appreciate most form the show and identified the following points:
The experience gained from the show;
The entertainments presented by the university campus Ashenda folklore team and Niyat band;
The show of Ethiopian Seed Enterprise and the explanation given was very fascinating;
The show involved farmer cooperatives as target audience and I like it most;
It helps in boosting productivity and I appreciated the show; and
The explanation and organization of Dedebit Credit and Saving Institution was very nice.
Regarding the rating scale about the organization of the finance fair the following feedback was obtained:
25
20
15 very poor 10 poor average 5 good very good 0
Fig. 4 The rating scale given by visitors on the organization of the finance fair
From the rating scale given the visitors were very much satisfied with the organization and coordination of the finance fair. Almost the finance fair was evaluated as a very good event.
The visitors were also asked whether they are going to participate in the second fair with some fee to be charged and all of them (100%) agreed that they will take part in the upcoming finance fair to be organized.
Finally they were asked to recommend some improvements to be made in the next finance fair and suggested the following:
The finance fair should be organized in another place than a university campus;
The members of the seed producing cooperatives should have been guided properly in small groups than leaving them free;
The seed producer cooperative should have also brought their product for the show;
The flyers should have been written either in Tigrigna or Amharic to be easily read and understood by farmers;
There was lack of coordination between the finance fair and music show, the finance fair was slightly dominated by the music and the attention of participants was diverted;
The lunch service area was very crowded and should have been organized in a wider hall to allow participants get lunch on time;
7. Pictorial References:
Fig. 1: Finance Fair Display Booth
Fig. 2: Dr. Fetien Abay, ISSD Scientific Coordinator, delivering a welcome address to participants
Fig. 3: DECSI displaying its activities at the Finance Fair
Fig. 4: ESE seed variety display at the Finance Fair
Fig. 5: CBE displaying its activities at the Finance Fair (in front: Dr. Abdelkadir Kedir, vice president for research and community services)
Fig. 6: Dr. Abdelkadir Kedir opening the Finance Fair, MU Management Hall
Fig. 7: Paper presentation session, MU Management Hall
Fig. 8: Gebru Hagos, representative of the private investors posing his questions after the presentations
Fig. 9: Question and answer session chaired by the moderator, W/ro Rahwa T/hunegne
Fig. 10: Field visit at Ayba seed producers cooperative (August 25, 2013)
Fig. 11: Discussion with seed producers cooperative members at Hirity Mekan (August 25, 2013)
Annex 1: Acronyms
CBE: Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
DECSI: Dedebit Credit and Saving Institution
ESE: Ethiopian Seed Enterprise
FF: Finance Fair
ISSD: Integrated Seed Sector Development
MU: Mekelle University
MFIs: Micro Finance Institutions
NGOs: Non-government Organizations
UN: United Nations
Annex 2: List of Participants: Agri-Business Finance Fair, Mekelle (August 24-25, 2013)
Name Organization Position Cell phone Vice president for Research & Dr. Abdelkadir Kadir MU 0914300406 Community Services Dr. Fetien Abay MU -ISSD Scientific Coordinator 0914313544 Dr. Amsalu Ayana PMU-ISSD National Director 0911842210 Dereje Legesse Agri-Hub Ethiopia Coordinator 0913207193 Amarech Haile Agri-Hub Ethiopia A/coordinator 0911791742 Rahwa Tesfahunegne MU Finance Director 0914187458 Nugus Kassa MU -ISSD Agribusiness innovator 0914754103 G/her Miruts MU -ISSD Seed innovator 0914 747542 Program management Behsir Ahmed MU -ISSD 0921888633 assistant Elsa Demisie MU -ISSD Private sector innovator 0914788421 Knowledge sharing & capacity Tsigab Meles MU -ISSD 0912480034 dev’t facilitator Yirga H/Silasie MU -ISSD Partnership facilitator 0914700162 Mulugeta Hagos MU -ISSD Finance officer 0914727300 Solomon Petros MU -ISSD Farmer organization innovator 0914709544 Birhanu Legesse MU -IEGDS driver 0914021353 Tsige Kassaye MU -ISSD driver 0914734272 Medhen Mehari MU -WFS driver 0914767797 Muze Kahssay MU -ISSD driver 0914750136 Director, Corporate W/giorgis T/haymanot MU 0910960878 communication Kiros Demise MU Marketing head 0914755918 Tekeste Giramy MU Transport head 0914436861 Mulugeta Kiros MU cameraman 0914732014 Ephrem Sewasu CBE Manager, Mekelle branch 0914730181 Temesgen Abraha DECSI Head, PR 0914708109 Haile G/Egziabher Wogagen Bank Manager 0914722966
Hadush G/Egziabher Dev’t Bank of Ethiopia Region Manager 0914743236 Customs & Revenue Mihret Beyene Director 0914025163 Bureau Customs & Revenue Getachew Abrha driver 0914094721 Bureau Private investors Gebru Hagos chairman Association Cooperative Teklay Amare Marketing expert 0914752129 &Marketing Agency Alebachew Hagos BoARD Imput expert 0914704336 Binyam Hadgu ESE Marketing expert 0914731596 Mesfin Neja ESE Marketing expert 0914539675 G/medhin Desta ESE Marketing expert 0914757186 Tadesse T/birhan AGP-AMDe Seed expert 0914102113 Sbagadis Belay ETV Journalist 0914720187 Tewelde Gidey ETV Journalist 0914729976 Mekonen K/mariam ETV Journalist 0914002322 Mulugeta Birhane ETV Journalist 0914769523 Mulu G/wahid Niat band artist 0914758224 Mamit Negash Niat band artist 0914006563 Tesfay Tamirat Niat band artist 0914013644 Mebrat Amare Niat band artist 0914759129 H/Silasie Sahle Niat band artist Bahta Fegi Niat band artist 0914702906 Hadera Tekay S/Samre Cashier 0914201155 Girmay Kiros Atsbi/Felegeweini chairman 0914163876 Medhin Mehari Atsbi/Felegeweini Cooperative member 0914160553 Asefach G/hawria K/Temben/begasheka Cooperative member W/gebriel G/mariam Adwa Cooperative member 0924220924 Kashi Yishak Mengistu K/Tembien/begasheka secretary 0914492119 Keshi Abreha Giramy K/Tembien/begasheka chairman 0914492118 Medhin Berhane Adwa Cooperative member
Gush Kidane A/tsimbla/mesanu secretary 0933788392 Nurdin Beshir T/maichew secretary 0923455001 Keshi W/yohannes Aregawi G/Afeshum Cashier 0914024280 Mehret W/Selassie G/Afeshum accountant 0914041502 Kahssay Abay G/Afeshum chairman 0914178999 Halefom Abreha A/Wonberta/Habes chairman 0924380121 Asefu Atsbeha A/Wonberta/Habes v/ chairman Shefena T/haimanot A/Wonberta/Habes secretary MichaeleHannes A/Alaje Ayba chairman 0914371730 Keshi Leul Gidey A/Alaje/Ayba secretary Asegedch Mehari A/Alaje Ayba auditor Daniel Alemseged A/simbla chairman 0914186532 Tekle Mehari Wukro accountant 0914811226 Eseinesh Berhanu S/Samre accountant 0915523350 Hadash Huwu S/Samre accountant 0925453977 Kahssay Berhe Endamokoni Secretary /Hirity Mekan 0914371144 Akalu G/mariam T/Koraro/Zeresenay Chairman 0933382369 Dejen T/micael T/Koraro/kuncho secretary 0914414885 Bri Zebasil A/simbla V/chairman /Selam Mituku Libanos S/Samer Auditor /Hadnet Nigste Abrha T/Koraro /My weyni Cooperative member Alemshet H/mariam A/tsimbla/ Mesanu v/chairman Haleka Tsegay G/kidan Endaba Guna Chairman 0927781707 Mekonen Tesfay T/Koraro May weyni /Chairman W/Slasie G/cheal T/Koraro May weyni/ Secretary 0927781748 Menasbo Felew Enda mokoni Chairman /Hirity mekan 0914503217 Haftu Teka Kelt Awlalo Secretary /Korir 0914157138 Kahsay Tsadik Kelt Awlalo Member/Korir 0914292099 Mulu Hluf Enda mokoni Friayt 0914168081 Giramy Gebru Kelt Awlalo Cashier 0931099875 Tekeste Dimtsu Quiha Manger /Irrigation 0914734284 Alamz Guesh L/maichew Member /Shewit 0914854733
Lemelm Hintsa G/mekeda Member /Sesan Tdeg T/haimanot T/keraro/zerisenay Cooperative member Gidey G/micheal L/maichew Member /Zeresnay Haleka Berhe Teka Kelt Awlalo Mosanu 0925045469 Tsega Birhane G/Silassie T/maichew v/chairman 0919355344 Meresa Berhe Ofla Chairman /Freweyni 0914238551 Mogos Semere Ofla/menkare sectary 0914410856 W/senbet G/Egzabher S/Samre Chairman /Hadnet Abriha G/georgis S/tsada Emba Cooperative member Tadel Tesfay S/tsada Emba secretary 0924475295 Teklay Hailu S/tseda Emba chairman 0914428979 Lemlem Lebasi T/keraro/kuncho Cooperative member Araya G/micheal S/tseda Emba cashier 0914095990 Haftay G/micheal S/tseda Emba secretary 0914117459 Kahsay H/Selassie S/tseda Emba chairman 0932063316 Mengsteab Tilahun T/maichew cashier 0925057161 Hogos G/meskel T/maichew chairman 0910720023 Aregash Amare Quiha Cooperative member 0931101264 Berhan Abreha Quiha Cooperative member 0914023401 Keshi Kahsay Hagos G/mekeda Cooperative member 0914824292 Azenegash Mengesha Quiha Cooperative member 0914728356 Kahsa G/hiwet G/mekeda Cooperative member 0914394693 T/berhan W/Michael Quiha Cooperative member 0914734284 Gebru Bezabh L/maichew Cooperative member 0932172107 G/Silase Sisay Axum Cooperative member 0939472541 Gebru G/yohans D/Temben Cooperative member Tesfay Asgede A/tsbha Cooperative member Tarke Mawcha L/maichew Cooperative member G/her Beletsom Adwa Cooperative member 0914392937 Abraham Abay D/Tembn Cooperative member Tadele G/micael Mekan Cooperative member G/her Tesfu Alaje Cooperative member
Hymanot Embaye T/maichew secretary 0923097161 Nega Berhanu Samre cashier 0927743950 Mamit Hadush D/Temben Cooperative member 0932529586 Bayush Desta Tselemti Cooperative member Mulu W/marim D/temben Cooperative member 0914686645 Tsehaytu Ayalaw Tselemti Cooperative member Roman Dimtu D/temben secretary Amit G/Silas D/temben cashier 0914285901 Kalayu Hadush D/temben chairman 0932330763 Birhan G/medhin Hawzen /lemlem cashier 0914205815 G/her H/Selassie Hawzn/lemlem chairman 0914205529 G/her mezgebe Hawzn secretary 0914403862 Fitsu Bezay Axum /Zerisenay Cooperative member Gebre W/abz Axum /Zerisenay Cooperative member 0925071465 G/tsekan Berhe Axum /Zerisenay Cooperative member 0912365922 Gebre G/medhin Axum Cooperative member 0914164702 Hagos Tesfay E/mokoni Cooperative member Tirhas G/rufel L/maichew secretary 0925425532 Godify Hagos L/maichew accountant Keshi Zemariam Wubet Kelte Awlalo/A/atsbha chairman 0914570815 Kiros Abrha Kelte Awlalo /A/atsbha secretary 0914399565 G/kiros Hdush Atsbe/Felegeweini secretary 0935813025 Tsegay Zbelo L/maichew chairman 0914528539 Aregaw Asefa D/temben secretary 0927741140 Kehsi G/Selama Giramy D/Temben chairman 0914506670 Zemeda Hailu Kelte Awlalo /A/atsbha Cooperative member Araya Amare D/Temben chairman 0914506689 Keshi Kiros Zemicael D/Temben secretary 0924280811 Adis alem Ayele T/koraro secretary Haleka Berhe Mulu Tselemti chairman 0914226030 Alemseged Engete Tselamti secretary Tikabo Tebeje Adwa Cooperative member
Tsehaye Zebasal A/tsembla secretary 0924467037 Ashferaw Tarke T/koraro/kuncho chairman 0951112690 Werknesh Tengegn Ofla //menkere Cooperative member Mola Alemayhu Ofla /menkere chairman 0932163143 Ashenafi Eyasu Ofla /adigolo chairman 0932241505 Ambaw G/yesus Ofla/adigolo cashier 0927759799 Mana Weyni E/mekani Cooperative member Destalem Zigta A/tsimbla secretary 0914229135 Demeku Werede A/tsimbla Cooperative member 0925471618 Yirga Abera A/tsimbla chairman 0913846237 Teferi Berhanu Ofla /adigolo secretary 0914171680 Gidey Tafere S/Samre chairman 0914876687 Hagos Reda S/Samre secretary 0931110057 Abadi G/meskel T/maichew chairman 0914528441 Keshi Alemu Abate Tselemti chairman Keshi H/Kiros G/her Tselemti secretary Meseret Fitsum S/Samre chairman 0925442822