Bean corridors: A novel approach to scale up national and regional trade in Africa

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Kelley Howard
5 years ago
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Although beans are among the most traded commodities in East and Southern Africa, more than 90 percent of this trade is informal, and only 60 percent of traders have access to information on bean

1 Bean corridors: A novel approach to scale up national and regional trade in Africa Photo: S. Malyon (CIAT) PABRA has developed a new commodity corridors approach, which aims to eliminate production bottlenecks, so that improved beans reach more consumers, and farmers can access better seeds. Although beans are among the most traded commodities in East and Southern Africa, more than 90 percent of this trade is informal, and only 60 percent of traders have access to information on bean prices. At the same time, while intensification of economic development is underway through, for example, the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) systemic failures persist. These include issues such as cross-border trade restrictions, low tradable volumes, and high transaction costs, which can limit bean production and hinder the involvement of smallholders especially women along the value chain. The Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), drawing on 20 years of work in the continent, has developed a new approach: commodity corridors. It aims to eliminate production bottlenecks, so that improved beans reach more consumers, and farmers can access better seeds. It is based on our assessment of the bean trade in Africa, which has revealed major flows of the crop between areas of production and consumption, connected by distribution networks. The commodity corridor approach can shed light on the largely informal bean market, to improve the business environment, linkages between bean farmers and buyers, and engagement with policy makers to support investment in bean value chains and cross-border trade. Our approach presents a promising new development framework for market-driven transformation of rural agriculture. It focuses on improving the bean flow intensifying production, linking farmers and businesses, and mainstreaming nutrition in the value chain. Bean corridors are characterized by production, distribution, and consumption hubs. Production hubs are sites where large volumes of beans are or can be produced. Distribution hubs include product distribution centers, aggregation centers, warehouses, storage points, or commodity exchanges, for distributing beans to consumers. And consumption hubs are major market outlets and processing units, supermarkets, and bean dealers. The corridor approach will link all the stakeholders in the value chain, while also stimulating financial opportunities and improving access to market information for example, through mobile phones so farmers can make better informed decisions about when and where to sell and compare the prices on offer. It is an avenue for turning bean production in small quantities into large quantities that can influence economic development in given regions in Africa. AUTHORS: Birachi Eliud, Buruchara Robin, Odhiambo Collins, Kalemera Sylvia and Jean Claude Rubyogo. 1 Bean corridors

2 Which bean corridors? Based on data from bean trade production and flows in Africa, PABRA has developed nine corridor maps across its three networks the East and Central Africa Bean Research Network (ECABREN), Southern Africa Bean Research Network (SABRN), and West and Central Africa Bean Research Network (WECABREN). The corridors span 17 countries: 7 in West Africa, 3 in Southern Africa, and 7 in Eastern Africa. The corridors, considered as Tier 1 corridors (others will be developed over time) include availability of relevant bean products or varieties that are demanded by the market, availability of private sector lead firms as offtakers of the product, and availability of production hubs that can generate desired volumes to satisfy the market (producers), among other key criteria used. The main bean types are the red mottled, yellow, red, sugar and white bean as well as green bean in West Africa. The maps are summarized below. Africa Bean Corridor Consumption / Market hubs Corridors MADAGASCAR CAMCOCA EAREM RED SEMAGUI ZIMBABWE TAZAMA TOGHABU WHITE YEBECO Map 01. Bean corridors across Africa. PABRA 20 YEARS 2

3 Table 1. Key driving products in the bean corridors. Corridor 1 SEMAGUI Green bean 2 TOGHABU Green bean 3 CAMCOCA Red bean 4 Ethiopia - White White pea bean 5 Ethiopia - Red Red bean 6 EAREM Red mottled bean 7 YEBECO Yellow bean 8 Madagascar White bean 9 TAZAMA Sugar bean 10 Zimbabwe Sugar bean Driving products 3 Bean corridors

4 YEBECO Yellow Bean Corridor YEBECO Corridor Kilometers East Africa Red Mottled Bean Corridor 4 EAREM Corridor TAZAMA Sugar Bean Corridor TAZAMA Corridor PABRA 20 YEARS 4

5 TOGHABU Bean Corridor TOGHABU Corridor SEMAGUI Bean Corridor 9 SEMAGUI Corridor CAMCOCA Bean Corridor - Cameroon Hub CAMCOCA 5 Bean corridors

6 Ethiopia Bean Corridors Red Bean Corridor Nile Bean Corridor Madagascar Bean Corridor 10 Zimbabwe Corridor Bean Production Hub PABRA 20 YEARS 6

7 Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT) Photo: Neil Palmer (CIAT) 7 Bean corridors

8 CONTACT Robin Buruchara PABRA Director Photo: N. Palmer (CIAT) PABRA P.O. Box Nairobi, Kenya (0) (0) October 2017

Birachi, E 1 *, Macharia I 2, Karanja D 3, Ugen M 4, Ruraduma C 5, Musoni A 6, Magdalena W 7, Kilango K 8, Kweka S 9, Muimui K 10, Rubyogo J.

A Commodity Corridor Approach to Regional Pulse Trade: A Case of Bean Corridors in Eastern and Southern Africa Birachi, E 1 *, Macharia I 2, Karanja D 3, Ugen M 4, Ruraduma C 5, Musoni A 6, Magdalena W