Spice Production, Marketing, and Value Chain in Ethiopia

The purpose of this paper was to document and organize spice production, marketing, and value chain in Ethiopia. Spice is the most essential farming product. Several native and exotic spices are grown by smallholder farmers across the country because Ethiopia has diverse agroecology and favorable climate conditions. The spice subsector has great potential for the country's economic development and poverty alleviation, cultivation, preparation, transport, and merchandising of spices and herbs. Spice market indicates the commodity value of spices. The major problems regarding the marketing system of spices were lack of communication between farmers and users, lack of linkage between sellers and buyers, and lack of postharvest management, storage facilities, regulated and cooperative markets, transportation, and knowledge of market news. The escalating value of spices is superficially envisioned, extending from smallholder production to partial handling, which seems to be the everyday value chain.


Introduction
"Any aromatic vegetable substance in the whole, broken, or ground form which is used primarily to season food rather than to contribute nutrients" is what the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defnes as a spice (as cited in [1], para.4).Spices are the most proftable venture in all farming activities as they provide ample employment opportunities and slope to raise the income of the farming community.Ethiopia has a long history of spices.It is a country that ships many spices with the normal yield secured by the spice being around 222,700 hectares with a production of 244,000 tons per year.Ethiopia supplies over 50 spices, with an estimated 200,000 hectares potentially providing more spices [2].
Ethiopia may be a country for many spices, such as korarima (Aframomum corrorima), long red pepper, dark cumin, white cumin/ministers weed, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric, sage, cinnamon, and ginger [3].Te diferent agroclimatic environment in Ethiopia underpins developing a wide assortment of crops in common and spice crops in particular.In this way, the nation has a few indigenous common and intriguing spice crops, which have been cultivated widely since time immemorial.Spice crops are produced in diferent districts of the nation and overwhelmingly by smallholder agriculturists as cash trim exchanged essentially in domestic markets, but with expanding victory also entering remote markets.Te spices subsector has an immense potential for fnancial advancement and poverty decrease through creation and development of employment openings and conveyance of wage and foreign trade earnings.However, pepper (Capsicum annum) and spice crop cultivation is conventional, with nothing or exceptionally little.
In Ethiopia, the production and use of aromas are perhaps the most important sentiment in the legendary botanical accounts dating back to the days of the rulers of Sheba.Korarima cardamom, Ethiopian long pepper, black cumin, bishop herb, and coriander favoring plants such as thyme and fenugreek have also been thought to be associated with Ethiopia as roots or centers of diference.Ethiopian spices are also many, and the role they played can be seen in comparison to their level of use and they have been used as one of the main occupations and life-giving foods, ofering a rare opportunity to accelerate both rural and urban improvements [4].
Ethiopia has a wide range of encounters in spice production.Asfaw and Tadesse [5] state that the Ethiopian people have long used and still use favors, spices, additives, and herbs within the framework of their traditional diet; Ethiopian kitchen gardens are located in backyards, front yards, side yards, or mostly surround homes.Tere are plenty of crops with climate, water resources, and soil suitable for growing spices; in addition, there is an appropriate investment approach which facilitates long-range adjustment investments through payroll tax exemptions, equipment and equipment follow-up tax exemptions, and loss carry forward credits.
Value chain analysis has become an important tool for studying agricultural markets in the creation of economies as it enables a better understanding of production strategies, supply phases, presentations, and dynamics between screen characters in the chain [6].It has the potential to recognize intercessions that beneft the poorest and least efcient actors [7].Tis study identifes the connections between performing artists, practices, and screen characters within the Korarima value chain and recognizes the main constraints.Intermediation possibilities are discussed, and the challenges and dilemmas of assessing these in terms of their impact on poverty, gender, and environment (PEG) are, so to speak, not related to the particular spice, but to overall considerations.

Defnition of Spices.
As stated by Goshme [8], any dried plant product, including seeds, leaves, bark/peel, and fowers, that is used primarily for favoring is referred to as a spice in other ways.Spices are essential oils that impart favor, aroma, and occasionally color to meals and beverages.Tey can be sold wholly as a powdered form or as oleoresins and essential oils.Tere are numerous other uses for spices; others, like peppers (Capsicum spp.), serve as alternatives to chemical dyes or pesticides, while plants like turmeric (Curcuma longa) are becoming more and more popular for use as natural remedies.According to another defnition, a spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance that is added to food in nutritionally small amounts for favoring and occasionally as a preservative by eradicating or stopping the development of dangerous microorganisms.In accordance with Helman [9], spices are diverse parts of plants, including bark, fowers, roots, seeds, nuts, and natural products, derived from known plants.It does not contain and is used as condiments, favors, and food favors (dried or fresh excrement is considered an herb and is therefore not favored).However, spices and herbs have long been most commonly used to enhance the tactile properties of foods because they contain compounds with interesting favor properties [10].

Production of Spices in Ethiopia.
Te total spice production in Ethiopia increased from 234,000 tons in 2013 to 356,000 tons in 2018, while the area under spice cultivation increased from 150,000 ha to 207,000 ha.Chilli pepper is the most commonly produced spice, accounting for over 80% of total production and exports, and ginger was the second most produced spice crop until 2013.Kifelew et al. [11] estimated that black cumin, ajwain or bishop's weed, fenugreek, and coriander had 36 and 17% share in area and production, respectively.In relation to Hibistu [12], the average annual growth rate of spices was 25.6 and 25.3% in volume and values between 1998 and 2010.
Dessalegn [13] asserts that spices play a signifcant role in Ethiopian cuisine.Since the beginning of time, Ethiopia has produced and consumed spices and is one of Africa's biggest consumers of spices.Spices are used to favor meats, soups, vegetables, bread, butter, and other foods.Additionally, they produce medications and perfumes with spices [14].Many spices, including korarima (Aframomnum corrorima), long red pepper, black cumin, white cumin, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric, sage, cinnamon, and ginger, are native to Ethiopia [14].
Masresha [15] claims that Ethiopia's complex agroecology encourages the growth of a wide variety of crops in general and spice crops in particular.As a result, the nation is home to several indigenous common and exotic spice crops, which have been widely farmed since the dawn of time.Te majority of the country's smallholder farmers grow spice crops, which are mostly traded in domestic markets but are also increasingly making inroads into overseas markets.Trough the establishment and extension of employment opportunities, as well as the distribution of income and foreign exchange revenues, the spice subsector has a signifcant potential to contribute to economic growth and the elimination of poverty.
As plant species, tastes have a high likelihood of being developed in various agrobiological zones around the country, claims ACP [16]; but the growth of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) spices is traditional; no advances have been achieved in seed or planting material; the development process and methodology heavily rely on knowledge that has been passed down from generation to generation.Many smallholders utilize favors to favor fabrics, as a source of basic oil, as a source of color, and as a source of income; favors are one of Ethiopia's traditional high-value agricultural crops.According to Herms [17], Ethiopia has a remarkable capacity to increase taste production, largely because of its good climate, unending arable land, inexpensive labor, proximity to potential markets, and welcoming approach environment.Natural conditions that are favorable and enticing selections of lowland and fne country favors have been released for consumers; therefore, it could be a very good occasion to expand and disseminate the current advancements inside the nation's proposed agroecologies [18].In relation to Mathewos [19], the interchange of favors on a national and international scale brings in money for producer ranches, retailers involved in the distribution network, and the nation as a whole.
Spices are developed completely from diferent agrobiological zones of the nation.Accessibility of money-related administrations by banks and microcredit teach furthermore global attractiveness of spice crops has a high potential for development and enhancement of trade proft of Ethiopia, 2 Te Scientifc World Journal motivations enables exporters to implement modern processing methods and equipment, spanning from preassembly to post-assembly processing.A growing number of buyers, traders, oleoresin extraction companies, and pharmaceutical producers select to purchase favors from Ethiopia [20].
In accordance with Tesfa et al. [21], to empower private speculation, the Ethiopian government has created a bundle of motivating forces beneath control No. 84/2003 for speculators locked in unused endeavors and developments, over a run of segments.Tese motivating forces are accessible both to remote and household speculators and the directions do not segregate between outside and domestic investors or foreign investors of diferent nationalities.
According to Herms [17], the zone beneath favor cultivation in Ethiopia shifts every year and spatially, for instance, it has been between 330,000 ha and 500,000 ha in the period 2005-2013.Adding up to favor generation expanded from 238,000 million tons in 2005 to 418,000 million tons in 2013.Chilies, ginger, dark cumin, dark cardamom, and turmeric accounted for 97% of the national annual normal favor generation volume within the same period.In Ethiopia, the Southern National and Nationalities People Groups Territorial States (SNNP) is the locale which produces the greatest number of spices in the country.

Global Evidence of Spice Market.
Marketing is the method for bringing sellers and buyers together for the purpose of exchanging product names and administrations [22].Te global spice trade has continued to grow over the years.For instance, this amount increased eightfold, reaching 38 billion USD in 2015 compared to 5 billion USD in 1991; this tendency was mostly caused by population growth (in 1991, it was only 5,000 million USD), 3 billion people on the planet; in 2015, this number was nearly 7.5 billion.
Tis increase essentially follows the increase in all products, including agricultural products, and also shows a clear upward trend, with the growth rate of overall merchandise trade being faster.Tis trend is mainly explained by the increase in commodity production which is generally higher than agricultural and food production.Further signifcant reductions in transport and transaction costs also play a role in this regard [23].

African Spice Market.
Although the use of most Africanproduced spices is still limited to the continent, this is the beginning to change.In 2013, the intercontinental spice trade accounted for about 23% of the total traded value of spices; however, by 2019, that percentage had dropped to just 11%.
From 1.58 million metric tons in 2013 to 1.62 million metric tons in 2018 (and reaching a peak of 1.78 million metric tons in 2017), Africa became a major producer of spices.Te proportion of African production in the world market has dropped from 15% to 13%.Tis is mostly because, according to FAOSTAT, spice production has increased more in other regions, particularly in Asia and Latin America.

Ethiopian Spice Market.
Today, Ethiopia is one of the largest consumers of spices in Africa.Ethiopia grows many spices, which are used not only to favor bread, butter, meats, soups, and vegetables but also to produce medicines and perfumes.Most of the spices produced (96%) are consumed domestically.According to Kotler and Keller [24], promoting is characterized as a social and administrative handle whereby people and bunches get what they require and need through making and trading items and esteeming others.Te American Promoting Association representing promoting experts within the US and Canada states that marketing is the method for arranging and executing the conception, estimating, advancement, dispersion of thoughts, merchandise, and administrations to form trades that fulfll person and organizational destinations [25].
According to Kaplinsky and Morris [26], the value chain describes the full range of activities which are required to bring a product or service from conception, through the diferent phases of production (involving a combination of physical transformation and the input of various producer services), delivery to fnal consumers, and fnal disposal after use.
In spite of the reality that Ethiopia is being a country of various spice crops and favorable agroecologies and long history of favor generation, so distant the nation is not recognized as a major exporter of favors and, consequently, the share of favors of the country's add up to trade proft is at high level (Ethiopian Service of Industry), 2015 ENTAG (Ethiopia-Netherlands Exchange) [17].Internationally, there are more than 109 varieties of spices that are traded commercially (ENTAG (Ethiopia-Netherlands Trade for Agricultural Growth), 2018).Ethiopia exports ginger, pepper (crushed or ground), turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, cardamom, cinnamon and clove (EMI (Ethiopian Ministry of Industry), 2015).Export trend (tons) for diferent spice crops in Ethiopia is shown in Figure 1.
Generally speaking, the nation's total trade proft [27], from spice exports has stayed below 1%, but for a considerable amount of time in 2003/04 and 2004/05, the proft of spice exports increased to 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively.During trimming a long time from 1997/98 to 2009/10, the aggregate normal development rates of trade of favors were 25.6 and 25.3% in volume and esteem, individually Yimer and Demirli [27].
According to Yimer and Demirli [27], the country earned $11,128 million and $18,568 million, respectively, for two consecutive years from 2008/09 to 2009/10 Worldwide Exchange Middle [28].Excluding cardamom, fenugreek, pepper, and other spice products, the sales success rates for favors in the 2009/10 launch year were 8.4%, 64.9%, and 15.4%, respectively.In 2013 and 2014, the spice trade was worth 15,000 tons a year, worth $26 million.Ginger is the most exported peel this year, accounting for about 50% of the total trade value (Ethiopia-Netherlands Exchange for Rural Development), 2018 [17].Ginger showed full favor with 60.75% volume over the long term from 2007/08 to 2012/13, followed by turmeric (11.47%), pepper (9.26%), and cumin (8.85%) paddy feld (Ethiopian Industrial Services Te Scientifc World Journal (EMI), 2014).Furthermore, until 2013, ginger was the most traded favor in Ethiopia, with a trade value of US$12 million in 2013, which could account for 45% of the trade value [17,29].Chili peppers soon followed, followed by turmeric and dark cumin favors in 2013 (EMI (Ethiopian Industrial Service), 2015; ENTAG (Ethiopian-Dutch Exchange for Agricultural Development), 2018).
According to Aveling et al. [30].many of his NTFPs (nontimber forest products, including spices) are harvested as a livelihood and source of income for many rural households in Ethiopia, although most commodities are sold at local or street markets.According to Bekele and Pillai [31], markets continue to be seen as a means of ensuring that small producers of agricultural commodities are efectively integrated into the mainstream economy, especially in developing countries [32].Conversely, poor market performance threatens the sustainability of production and makes it diffcult to continuously supply raw materials to the market.

Export Destinations of Ethiopian Spices.
Although the majority of Ethiopian spices exported go to other African nations, the export market is changing.Between 2013 and 2017, the proportion of Ethiopian spice exports to African nations fell from 61% to 53%.Information for 2019 and 2018 is not accessible.
In 2017, 40% of the entire value of exports came from Sudan.Te United States, Egypt, and Djibouti are further signifcant export markets.Spice shipments to Asia are rising: between 2013 and 2017, the proportion of exports rose from 15% to 24%.10% of it arrived in Europe in 2017 as opposed to 4% in 2013, a 63% rise in absolute terms.Tis will continue to go on as the European market for spices continues to expand.Spice exports to the Middle East dropped by 53 percent between 2013 and 2017.When considering all of Ethiopia's exports, the countries that trade with China most frequently are Somalia, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Spice Value Chain in Ethiopia.
In relation to Kaplinsky and Morris [33], they defne the value chain as manufacturer, delivery to the end user, and fnal disposal after use.
Most defnitions of value chains use "chain" to indicate the vertical relationship between producers and buyers (chain actors) and the movement of a particular source or product from the producer to consumer.
In relation to Rieple and Singh [34], a typical value chain analysis breaks down the stages of a product from production to market to identify inefciencies or areas of inefciency.Most analyzes look at ways to address these issues and share profts more fairly among actors in the chain.
According to Rieple and Singh [34], value chain analysis has been applied to many sectors, from agricultural products to garment production, and has been described as an "adaptive model" due to its popularity and versatility.However, the main criticism of value chain diagnostic work is that many studies are top-down and the limited involvement of key stakeholders [35].
Tis is illustrated by the Ethiopian Spice Strategy [16]; this strategy was developed as a result of just one participatory stakeholder workshop; in relation to [36,37], it did not reach the recommended level of cooperation with growers and harvesters.
According to CSA [38], preparing a spice supply in Ethiopia involves a number of activities such as supply of inputs, seed/variety selection, nursery and exchange plot arrangements, seed propagation, delivery arrangements, sowing/crop production, cultivating safety, weed and weed control, collecting, beating, semidrying/complete drying and application of suitable drying strategies, washing of foreign substances/mixtures, proper pressing and use of suitable pressing materials, collection/replenishment of collected fragrances, staging, wholesalers, processors, and manufacturing plants (oleoresin milling/processing (including mills), retail and home consumption, and shipping to foreign markets (Figure 2).Tis is illustrated by Tiru et al. [39] that challenges start from the need for awareness on spice generation, handling, capacity, and promotion among makers.Ranchers are still utilizing their traditional cultivating hones and ordinarily collect exceptionally low yields.So, also, the promoting framework is not managed through organized endeavors.Te price of favors is not decided by the request, supply, and cost data but rather by person choice.A person choice making handle of the promotion of spice leads to wasteful and inefective beneft of the advertise.Tis suggests that agriculturists are not getting anticipated benefts from this division.Weak regulatory education, lacking transportation, control and water framework, and the nonappearance of important upstream value chain performing artists, such as hardware, seed, and fertilizer providers, and frms providing supporting services are moreover challenges to be tended to [40].Tis is illustrated by Mathewos [19] that the spice value chain in Ethiopia is strong to outside stuns and, with that, its capacity to proceed conveyed a sustainable supply to meet requests.
Key actors within the spice value chain in Ethiopia incorporate agriculturists and collectors at the cultivate door, input providers (seeds, fertilizer, bundling, and transport), agents/brokers who act as a medium between collectors and European clients, dealers who work as vital, and taking  Te Scientifc World Journal ownership of the item and processors [41].Although research on spice show proft and the value chain there are still numerous issues that need to be resolved by the segment.For instance, the nonappearance of insufciency improves technologies, postharvest dealing with, unpredictable supply and variable quality of favors delivered from woodland and agricultural landscapes, destitute showcase and interfacing street framework in major spice creating zones, and the need for cash crop orientation towards tall esteemed globally exchanged crops [17,19,[42][43][44].

Opportunity and Constraints of Spice Production and Marketing in Ethiopia
(i) Ethiopia has diversifed agroecology and favorable climatic conditions for the production of spices (ii) Te spice subsector has enormous potential to reduce poverty in Ethiopia, create and develop commercial possibilities, and generate money for the farming community as a cash crop [21, 45] (iii) Ethiopia is making signifcant investments in agroindustrial parks in an efort to attract investors, commercialize production, and encourage local value addition (iv) It is possible to intercrop spices with other wellestablished crops that have an efective value chain, like cofee (v) Spices that have been processed are far more expensive than those that are raw.In this regard, rural value addition ofers investors great chances to boost margins (vi) Low production of spices due to farmers using traditional farming practices (vii) Lack of knowledge about spice production, processing, storage, and marketing information among producers and consumers (viii) Te marketing system is not handled through concerted eforts (ix) Te farmer did not proft from the spice industry because of a lack of value chin.

Conclusion
Ethiopia may be a source of distinctive spices with diferent major agroecological zones and diferent agroecological subzones.Te Scientifc World Journal take after cost-efective promoting channels, developing good showcasing investigates and making advancements, expanding government back, and others are crucial.Te spice sector has immense potential for economic development and poverty reduction.Value chain analysis is an important tool for studying agricultural products and market analysis in the creating economies for a better understanding of production strategies and supply phases.

Recommendation
Spices are one of the key subsectors that ft into the commercialization of agriculture plan as a cash crop.Due to their cash crop status, spices have a signifcant potential to increase smallholder farmers' purchasing power, hence reducing poverty and guaranteeing food security.However, there has not been much funding or attention from research and extension for the production of spice crops.It is therefore important to note that policymakers, researchers, and extension agencies should take more action in support of spice crops throughout the world and in Ethiopia specifcally.Farmers cultivate a variety of spices, including fenugreek, capsicum, black and white cumin, coriander, and basil; research and extension could initiate intervention on these spices.Spice production would gain value from the collection, characterization, and analysis of essential oils and other key constituents, thereby enhancing the livelihoods of farmers through the use of spices.To determine value chain players and limitations, a thorough analysis of the spice value chain is required.For farmers to receive better prices, strong market ties between retailers, wholesalers, and consumers must be formed.Te goal of the review should be to increase the productivity and production of spices by creating better agronomic techniques and improved varieties and to motivate marketing networks between the farmer and consumers and to enhance the economic growth of the country.