Using evidence in unraveling food supply chains in Ethiopia: The supply chain of teff from major production areas to Addis Ababa

Urbanization is quickly increasing in Africa, raising important questions on how food value chains to cities function and what the implications of urban growth are for the local food trade and farm sector. We study the rural–urban value chain of teff in Ethiopia, by value its most important staple value chain. Relying on unique large-scale surveys at different levels in this value chain, we find—in contrast to conventional wisdom—that value chains are relatively short and that average farmers obtain a high share, of about 80 percent, of the final consumer price in the major terminal market, Addis Ababa. We further find that producer prices decline the further farmers live from the city. Stock release by farmers is smooth over the year and the importance of distress sales after harvest is lower than commonly assumed. As these are all signs of well-functioning markets and as room for improvements toward higher producer prices are small, policy interventions aiming to increase market efficiency therefore seem to have little potential for the major teff production areas of Ethiopia.