ILO ProAgro Ethiopia –‘Promotion of Decent Work in Agribusiness’ project funded by the BMZ Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation, conducted a market systems analysis (MSA) of the poultry sector in the Amhara and Sidama regions to unpack the poultry market, its key constraints and the root causes to those constraints. The analysis has been conducted by building on the extensive research conducted in Ethiopia on poultry as well as through conducting field research interviews with key stakeholders in government, coordination bodies and cooperatives, key development actors, the private sector and farmers.

In view of the sector’s poor competitiveness and the relative inability of women to progress to more productive roles, this analysis has flagged that high input costs, a lack of opportunities to graduate from household to commercial farming, and poor sector investment policy are the three most pressing issues.

This assessment has identified intervention ideas that intend to cut key input costs and enhance opportunities for female farmers, such that the sector can transform from being traditional, to more commercial and competitive. If done inclusively, this transformation can serve as a pull to create more and better jobs for women. The interventions will provide a new entry point for the ProAgro Ethiopia project and will be structured in a way that will put local actors - both public and private - in the lead and in a position to continue the delivery of interventions even after the project life- enhancing project sustainability.