THE MAJOR PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF TOMATO MARKETING: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

More than 85 % of the population of Ethiopia is small farmers dominating agrarian economy. Although population with this high number is living in the rural area, the production and productivity is very low. Because of this, most of the people are not secured themselves with food. Vegetable production can contribute to rural livelihood and development on the basis of its high added value and the high nutritional value that the products represent. The purpose of this study was to analyze the major problems and prospects of tomato marketing. The data was collected from seven Tabias and 255 households in Medebay-Zana Woreda, North Western zone of Tigray region, Ethiopia. In order to achieve the study objectives both primary and secondary data was used. A two-stage simple random sampling procedure was used to select seven sample Tabias and 255 households followed probability proportionate to size. Combination of statistical techniques was used to analyze the data. In this study, the findings of the t-test analysis indicated that most of the farmers rely on family labor, chemical fertilizer, on ponds and river/springs irrigation, and use donkey to transport. During the peak harvesting season the price of tomato falls quite significantly and found more unstable and market actors namely producers, farm gate collectors, brokers, wholesalers, traders, and consumers play a vital role in the market chain. The major challenges in tomato production are tomato weed, tomato frost and transportation related problems. The problems in tomato marketing are low price, lack of storage facilities, and lack of market centers. Opportunities for expansion of tomato marketing are market stability, infrastructure facility, market demand, improved yield, better price, storage facilities and processing facilities