Market Center Development

In rural areas of Ethiopia, market places are often situated in the open air creating a vulnerability to dirt and hazards such as wind, overhead sun and rain. These problems create cumbersome conditions for transaction, reduce product qualities and at times of severe incidences result in market failure.

The Agricultural Growth Program (AGP), under the small-scale rural market infrastructure development and management sub-component, is focused on primary market centers development where producers could directly access suppliers and/or consumers. This intervention will include:

• Upgrading the infrastructure of market centers located in rural, peri-urban and urban (zonal, district towns, and/or kebele towns) areas
• Conduct participatory baseline survey
• Preparation of market land use plan and management strategy
• Paving the market site; constructing market shed, community warehouses and access roads
• Mobilizing community participation for infrastructure upgrading and Establishing Market Center Management Committee (MCMC);
• Training of Market Center Management Committee on market infrastructure management and marketing, leadership and communication, bank account management, maintenance of the market infrastructure, gender issues, and social conflict management in marketing activities.
• Development of Market center infrastructure management strategy.

As part of these activities, it is expected that 40 primary, 20 secondary and 8 terminal market centers will be improved and/or developed.