Optimizing sesame export marketing, professionalizing union management and selected PCs Metema multipurpose cooperatives union is situated in North Gonder zone, Metema district, Genda Wuha town of Amhara regional state. The union was founded in 1999 by four primary cooperatives with 52, 000 ETB capital. Currently, it has 37 member cooperatives from three woredas and the capital is 17,823,400 ETB. The union mainly purchases sesame, cotton, and sorghum from its members. It also supplies agricultural inputs, like improved seeds, pesticide, fertilizer and herbicides and consumer goods to the members and non-members. The union is situated in the high potential sesame producing area of North Gondar zone. It’s known for being one of the potential sesame producing union in Amhara region. In addition to sesame, cotton and sorghum are highly produced most by member farmers. The union has been getting support from C4C project since 2013 on different areas; business planning, export marketing, cooperative governance and leadership, post-harvest handling and management, Peachtree Accounting, key staff recruitment, warehouse management. In addition to these, at different time discussion platforms have been organized to let union and PC discuss their internal issues (like yearly purchasing and marketing performance, marketing modality to be used between the PC and Union etc.).

Though, the union has a good potential for production and marketing of sesame and has been supported by C4C project, the current and past trends shows inadequate performance in collecting members produce, marketing of its produce to export and high price fetching local market. This is mainly because of the following key constraints: The first is reason the union is highly dependent on borrowed money/weak internal capital mobilization effort. Even this year the union could not get working capital credit from any bank since the union have 6.3 million outstanding loan. The second reason is farmers’ exhibits frequent side selling to local traders since they have binding agreement with local traders. This is happening as farmers need credit in the planting, pre-harvesting and harvesting periods for buying their inputs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides), either in kind credit or in cash credit. The traders are more organized and they have stepped in the finance gap small scale farmers faced. The traders lend money to farmers and then insist the farmers to sell their sesame to the traders upon harvesting. These practices would have an impact on the PCs and union output marketing volume. The third reason is the existence of weak linkage between the member-PCs and the union. The fourth reason for limited performances of the union relates to the existence of fewer staff and frequent turnover, limited knowledge and skill on cooperative governance, leadership, credit administration and financial record keeping system both at the union and PC level. Hence, the 2016 action plan try to address the above problems and specifically focus on:• Professionalizing the management of sleeted PCs by hiring manager• Strengthening the governance and leadership capacity the union board • Enhancing the relationship between members, PCs and union • Mobilizing 2 million birr through internal capitalization • Improving the internal administration, operation & financial record keeping practices at the union and PC level• Increasing the farmers access to input finance • Improving women participation in leadership and decision making• Improving farmers agronomic practice and sesame productivity• Output marketing of 51,500 quintal sesame

Professionalizing the management of sleeted PCs by hiring manager• Strengthening the governance and leadership capacity the union board • Enhancing the relationship between members, PCs and union • Mobilizing 2 million birr through internal capitalization • Improving the internal administration, operation & financial record keeping practices at the union and PC level• Increasing the farmers access to input finance • Improving women participation in leadership and decision making• Improving farmers agronomic practice and sesame productivity• Output marketing of 51,500 quintal sesame