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African Journal of Agricultural Marketing ISSN 2375-1061 Vol. 4 (6), pp. 001-007, June, 2016. Available online at 
www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals 

 

Author(s)                                           Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. 
 
 

 

Full Length Research Paper 

 

Production, processing and marketing of ginger 

in Southern Ethiopia 
 

Endrias Geta1* and Asfaw Kifle2
 

 
1
Haramaya University, Ethiopia. 

2
Areka Agricultural Research Center, SNNPRS, Ethiopia. 

 
Accepted 23 January, 2016 

 
The cultivation of ginger was started in Ethiopia during 13th century when Arabs introduced it from India to east 
Africa (Janson, 1981). In Ethiopia it is limited mostly in the wetter regions of Southern Nations, Nationalities and 
Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) and some parts of western Oromia. Most of the commercial production is 
practiced in SNNPRS by farmers within Kambata-Tambaro, Wolaita and Hadiya zones. Despite its uses and 
contribution to the livelihoods of smallholders and to economy of the country, there has been limited attempt to 
promote its production and marketing through improvement of pre-and post harvest handling of the crop. This 
paper highlights the results of a survey and a review of secondary sources of information in sample woredas 
from ginger belt of country with the objective of identifying ginger value chain problems and potentials in 
southern Ethiopia. The study identified that there are high potential ginger growing areas in SNNPRS located in 
Wolaita, Kambata-Tambaro and Hadiya zones that tend to specialize in production and marketing of the crop. 
However, production and marketing of ginger in these areas is constrained by low quality varieties, poor pre- 
and post-harvest handling practices, low product market prices and lack of access to markets. 
 
Key words: Ethiopia, ginger, marketing, processing. 

 
INTRODUCTION 

 
Ginger is a commercially produced horticultural crop in 
SNNPS, Ethiopia. The producing areas in SNNPRS are 
said to be ginger belts in Ethiopia where much of the 
country‟s production and marketing activities are located. 
Even though these areas were known as major suppliers 
of ginger in the country, limited attention has been given 
to expand production for betterment of smallholder 
farmers engaged in production and marketing activities. 
Efforts to generate improved technologies were limited to 
agronomic practices with no concerted effort to improve 
product quality, which is highly influenced through its 
value chain from pre-harvest to postharvest management 
practices including processing of final products. 
Moreover, no effort has been made to assess farmers‟ 
pre and post-harvest management practices that could be 
used as a benchmark for improvement works targeting 
product quality and sustainable supply. Factors that  
 
 

 
*Corresponding author. E-mail: geta.endrias@yahoo.com. Tel: 
0916868202. 

 
 
 
 
 

 
determine performance of ginger marketing and reduce 
benefits to farmers engaged in its production were not 
adequately understood by policy makers and agricultural 
extension workers. This survey was carried out in major 
ginger producing areas of the region with the objectives 
of identifying pre and post- harvest management 
practices, processing techniques and marketing actors 
and practices in ginger value chain. It was found out that 
farmers practice their long-existed management practices 
in selecting varieties to be planted, undertaking field 
management of the crop, processing and marketing. Low 
market prices due to poor product qualities, cyclical 
variations in product price, lack of improved processing 
and storage facilities were found to be major ginger 
production and marketing constraints. 
 
 
RESEARCH METHODS 
 
This paper was based on the information obtained through 

reconnaissance survey undertaken in ginger growing areas of 
SNNPRS, Ethiopia in February, 2010. Two administrative zones, 

that is, Wolaita and Kambata-Tambaro, where farmers specialize in 

file:///C:\Users\user\Documents\REPUBLICATION\AGRICULTURAL%20SCIENCES\AppData\Local\Temp\www.internationalscholarsjournals.org


 
 
 

 
Table 1. Ginger area, production and productivity in southern Ethiopia.  

 
 Administrative zone Woreda Area (ha) Production (qt) Yield (qt/ha) 

 Hadiya West Badawacho 423 67680 160 

 Wolaita Boloso Bombe 7000 1120000 160 

 Kambata-Tambaro Hadaro-Tunto, Qacha Bira 8223 1308652 159 

 Dawro Gena Bosa 1500 225000 150 

 Kafa Gimbo 55 8800 160 

 Shaka  379 60640 160 

 Bench Maji Sheko 187 29920 160 

 Konta  473 75680 160 

 Total  18240 2896372  
 

Source: BOARD. 
 

 

Table 2. Extent of ginger cultivating weredas of SNNPRS.  
 

 Woreda Total area production (ha) Percentage of ginger producing farmers Total production (qt) 

 Hadaro Tunto 3986 80 637760 

 Boloso Bombe 5000 85 600000 
 

Source: BOARD, 2008. 
 

 
ginger production were purposely selected for the study. 
Consecutively, two ginger specializing districts from these zones 
were selected based on the discussions made with the zonal 
departments of agriculture. From each district selected, four ginger 
producing villages were covered by the survey. A qualitative survey 
method, using semi-structured checklists and informal survey tools 
such group discussions, personal interviews and filed observations, 
was administered to collect the required information. Field survey 
data were supplemented with information obtained through review 
of published sources. The data collected were summarized and 
discussed using a descriptive approach which is a qualitative 
research format. 
 
 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

 

Overview of ginger production in SNNPRS 

 

In Ethiopia ginger is cultivated under sub-optimal 
conditions with rain fall often less than 1500 mm per year 
and at lower temperatures (Jansen, 1981). However, 
reasonable yields have been recorded under sub-optimal 
conditions of the country. As indicated in Table 1 in 
2006/2007, about 2896372 quintals of fresh ginger was 
produced from an area of 18,240 ha indicating regional 
average rhizome yield of 160 qt/ha (BOARD, 2008).  

Table 2 shows that about 32% of the total arable lands 
are allotted to ginger production indicating that ginger 
was most extensively produced crop of Hadaro Tunto 
wereda. Same is true with Boloso Bombe woreda with 
only slight variation in the proportion of land used for 
ginger production. An estimated total yield of 1237760 
quintals of fresh ginger rhizomes in the year 2008 was 
obtained from the total area of 8986 ha of land from the 
two major ginger cultivating weredas. 

 
 

 

According to farmers of the areas, there had been a 
higher and more extensive production of ginger in ginger 
belt of the region before the last 3 to 4 years. However, in 
the subsequent years, a sudden fall of the price shortly 
occurred followed by a high production, which resulted in 
low market demand of the produce. Consequently, 
farmers could not get benefit from ginger production for 
the last 3 to 4 years. As a result, a total production and 
the size of land allotted by farmers to ginger production 
are declining at alarming rate. Currently, almost all 
resource poor farmers in Wolaita area are shifting to the 
production of a high yielding newly released taro variety 
and maize by abandoning ginger production. Farmers 
argue that growing ginger commercially is full of 
uncertainty if there is no market guarantee based on a 
certain agreement. Once it lacks market demand, the 
only alternative would be dumping, because no part of it 
goes to household consumption, unlike food crops. 

 

Pre-harvest management practices 

Land preparation 

Most ginger growing farmers of the region start plowing 
the land allocated for ginger production at the end of the 
rainy season (from late September to early October) after 
harvesting previous crop. Plowing the same unit of land 
will be repeated for about 3 to 5 times. By doing so, 
seeds of weeds get exposed to the sun periodically and 
most of them die until dry-planting of ginger takes place 2 
to 3 months after land preparation (February/January). 
The land that has been pulverized to a fine tilth at the end 
of the rainy season when the soil is at moist condition will 



  
 
 

 
Table 3. Characteristics of different ginger vernaculars cultivated in SNNPRS.  

 
 Cultivar group  Vernacular  Unique characteristics 

 

     Highly palmated rhizomes 
 

   „Feminine Wolaita‟  Large sized rhizomes 
 

     More productive 
 

 Local     
 

     High fiber content 
 

   Masculine Wolaita  Highly pungent 
 

     Large number of prominent roots 
 

 
Introduced 

 Bilbo  One prominent root 
 

  
Bolbo 

 
2 to 3 prominent roots  

    
 

 
 
 

conserve its moisture for 2 to 3 months. Depending on 
the soil type and the moisture content of the soils as well 
as the capacity of the farmer to use oxen power, the 
frequency of tillage ranges between 3 and 10. Plowing 
the land just at the end of the rainy season allows dry 
season planting of ginger. It enables early planting of the 
crop to take advantage of using the total amount of the 
rainfall distributed in the growing season and the crop will 
complete its normal growth cycle, which in turn makes it 
more productive. Conversely, late planting, as the result 
of late onset of the rain, results in significant yield 
reduction as indicated by farmers. 
 

 

Variety selection 

 

Farmers identify two groups of ginger varieties in 
SNNPRS, that is, local and introduced, each group 
comprising two varieties with distinct morphological 
characteristics. In Wolaita, farmers classify the local 
cultivars as „Masculine Wolaita‟ and „Feminine Wolaita‟. 
However, in Kambata, farmers identify one local cultivar 
known as „Hargema‟, that shows great resemblance with 
the cultivar „Masculine Wolaita‟. In both administrative 
zones, the local cultivars have been under production 
since time immemorial. However, cultivars categorized in 
the introduced group were introduced to the area in the 
late 1990s. According to farmers, these two introduced 
cultivars have been disseminated through informal seed 
system. Most farmers are substituting the local cultivars 
with the new introductions. Each quarter of ginger 
production of the region tends to produce distinctive types 
of cultivars. The different characteristics/ requirements of 
the major ginger vernaculars currently cultivated in 
SNNPRS as pointed out by the farmers are presented in 
(Table 3).  

As can be observed from (Table 3), farmers also 
identify quite a lot of variations among the different 

cultivars for pre-harvest requirements and post-harvest 
characteristics as well as differences in commercial 
values. 

 

 

Method of propagation and management of planting 

materials 
 
Ginger is propagated by planting pieces or portion of 
rhizomes which have at least one good bud. In SNNPRS, 
farmers developed their own traditional management 
method of ginger planting material. It involves two 
methods that is, underground storage method and indoor 
storage method. The former method is not a common 
practice but the latter is the popular seed management 
method that most farmers are practicing in the region. 
With the first method, ginger rhizomes of the previous 
crop are kept in the ground without being harvested until 
the time of planting. During planting time, the crop is 
harvested, rhizomes are cut into pieces of the required 
sizes and are immediately planted. In this case, it may 
take 2 to 3 months for the emergence of the new plants. 
The second method of propagation involves the following 
steps. First, rhizomes of the previous crop are harvested 
in November. Secondly, rhizomes are cut into pieces of 
the required sizes (usually to 2.5 to 5 cm length) and are 
placed mostly in plastic sacks, and finally, sacks 
containing the setts of ginger are stored in residential 
houses. After 15 days to one month of cutting the 
rhizomes into pieces, the cut pieces tend to sprout in the 
sacks where they are stored. Once sprouting is initiated, 
dry or wet planting will take place. Farmers indicate that 
the rate of germination of rhizomes using indoor seed 
storage method is very fast.  

Farmers in the region plant larger pieces of ginger 
rhizomes. The reason is that larger pieces will be re-
harvested as „Kania‟ together with the newly developed 
rhizomes and are economically valuable when they are 
sold in mixture with the new harvest. However, no 
evidence has been reported on the quality of „Kania‟ to be 
used as input for preparing any sort of ginger final 
products (that is, ginger powder, oleoresin, and volatile 
oil). A study by Hailemichael and Tesfaye (2008) in Tepi, 
Ethiopia indicated that seed rhizome size significantly 
affected dry rhizome yield. However, there have been no 
recommendations on the effect of the management of 



 
 
 

 

planting material on yield and quality of ginger in the 

study area. Similarly, the effect of size of the cut pieces of 

rhizome on the yield of ginger also remains to be 
unaddressed. 
 

 

Spacing, planting depth and time of planting 

 

Size of cut pieces is one of the major factors that affect 
seed rate in ginger. Ginger growing farmers of the region 
also use approximately similar seed rate with that of 
research recommendation which falls in the range of 17 
to 28 qt/ha. Because of its biennial nature, ginger needs 
to be planted as early as possible in the growing season 
to exploit the limited moisture in its growing areas in the 
region. It is customary to plant ginger in the dry months 
on plots of land which have been prepared during wet 
season with the objective of conserving water for dry 
planting. To make use of the conserved water, deep 
planting is essential. Long ago, Janson (1981) reported a 
planting depth of 5 to 10 cm used for ginger in Ethiopia. 
Planting depth is one of the most limiting agronomic 
factors that affect productivity of crops. Ginger producing 
farmers of SNNPRS prefer dry planting in December and 
January on the unit of lands that have been pulverized to 
a fine tilth during wet season for the purpose of moisture 
conservation. Farmers declare that this joint effect of 
planting time associated with the indicated tillage practice 
increases productivity. In general, seed rate, planting 
depth and time of planting need to be explored in order to 
exploit the genetic potential of the ginger varieties. 
 

 

Fertilizer use 
 

Farmyard is a major fertilizer used for ginger production 
in SNNPRS. However, it cannot support large scale 
production since the availability of farmyard manure is 
limited. On the other hand, the rate of its application for 
optimum yield per unit area has also not been determined 
for ginger. In addition, farmers complain that working with 
farmyard manure is laborious. For large scale production 
to be undertaken outside the homestead, the cost of 
transportation of farmyard manure is also very high.  

Some farmers who plant ginger at large scale in the 
region also use compost as a source of nutrient for 
producing ginger making from all kinds of organic 
materials such as crop residues, kitchen wastes, garden 
cuttings, and manure. Compost supplies nutrients at the 
right time in required quantities. Compost is especially 
useful for improving the soil structure and fertility.  

Coffee pulp and husk have been the other sources of 
nutrients used by the farmers that produce ginger at 
commercial level in the region. They purchase the coffee 
pulp and husk from the wet and dry coffee processing 
plants operating in their vicinity and even from the 
neighboring woredas and transport to their farm when 

 
 
 
 

 

they speculate high market demand for their ginger 
product.  

Although the price of chemical fertilizers is unaffordable, 
and chemical fertilizers do not improve the soil structure, 
some farmers producing ginger at commercial level use 
DAP when they expect that they will get good prices. 
Almost all farmers do not use UREA in ginger production 
as they perceive that “UREA dries the soils”. Time of 
application is variable with season of planting. During dry 
planting, farmers do not apply chemical fertilizers. They 
apply the fertilizer by broadcasting approximately 3 to 4.5 
months of planting during the cultivation at the rate of 
approximately 100 kg/ha when the rhizomes emerge. 
However, farmers do not use chemical fertilizers in small 
scale cultivation, and where prices are fluctuating. It has 
been a usual practice in ginger production to give a 
combination of organic and chemical fertilizers. However, 
the correct proportion of both nutrient sources for 
optimum yield/quality need to be defined. Similarly, 
research needs to be conducted to determine the correct 
type, rate and time of application of the chemical 
fertilizers for the optimum yield/quality as well as to 
analyze the economic aspect of fertilizer application. In 
India farmers apply manure 25 to 30 tons/ha or apply 
compost at planting, and N 36, P, 16, and K 66KG/ha 
(Janson, 1981). The recommended rate of chemical 
fertilizers at Tepi Sub Research Center for an optimum 
yield of ginger was 375 kg/ha urea and 175kg/ha DAP. 
 

 

Weeding and pest control 
 

In Ethiopia, farmers follow non-chemical weed manage-
ment practices that include deep plowing of the seedbed 
at the end of the rainy season and frequent cultivation. 
Before the season of planting comes, farmers begin to 
prepare seedbed at the end of the rainy season (between 
late September and early October) plowing the same unit 
of land as frequently as 3 to 5 times. By doing so, seeds 
of weeds get exposed to the sun periodically and most of 
them die until dry-planting will take place 2 to 3 months 
after land preparation (January to February). Pests of 
ginger are root-knot nematodes, and shoot borers 
(Purseglove, 1972). So far, in Ethiopia, no disease and 
pest records of ginger have been reported. 
 

 

Harvesting 

 

In Ethiopia, it is not habitual to harvest ginger based on 
the end use. In SNNRS, for dried and fresh ginger, 
mature rhizome with a full aroma, flavor and pungency 
are harvested after planting when the leaves begin to turn 
yellow. Harvesting is usually manual taking no care 
whether the outer epidermis or the rhizomes are 
damaged or not. Two forms of ginger harvesting are 
identified in SNNPR, that is, one-season harvesting and 



 
 
 

 

perennated harvesting. One-season harvesting involves 
harvesting of matured rhizomes within one growing 
season. In SNNPR, usually harvesting of ginger begins 8 
to 9 months starting from late September when the 
leaves start turning yellow and the stems stop growing, 
which, may extend to March or until the onset of the „belg‟ 
rain. Within the same growing season, farmers 
sometimes deliberately extend the time of harvesting 
speculating high market price. Sometimes ginger is 
grown as a perennial crop in SNNRS. In this case 
farmers deliberately leave the matured ginger rhizomes in 
the field for two or more successive seasons without 
harvesting. 
 

 

Postharvest management practices 

 

Postharvest management practices of ginger involve 

several activities. These include preparation of dry ginger, 

storage and processing. Farmers‟ practice in the study 

areas were identified and presented as follows. 
 

 

Preparation of dry ginger 

 

In Ethiopia, quality-reducing traditional drying methods 
have been used for the preparation of dried ginger. 
Actors of these methods include farmers, retailers and 
some wholesalers. The major actors of the drying 
process are individual farmers followed by the retailers. 
The contribution of wholesalers, who sometimes use 
cemented floor, to the total dry ginger preparation is 
insignificant.  

Farmers spread the harvested ginger rhizomes on 
dusty and dirty floors without cleaning and trimming roots 
from the rhizomes to prepare a dried ginger or sometimes 
leave it on farm after harvesting until it loses some 
percentage of moisture and spread on floor for full drying. 
Sun drying of ginger is a laborious process which could 
take 30 to 45 days depending on the type of variety and 
weather condition. Brilliant and stable sunshine condition 
at Areka, for example, in most cases is not attainable due 
to some irregular showers of rain, which leads to mold 
development mostly in the introduced cultivars. For this 
reason, it is habitual to break the rhizomes into tiny 
pieces to enhance fast drying. Breaking the rhizomes into 
smaller pieces has its own negative impact on the quality 
of the dried product by decreasing the volatile oil content 
of the rhizome on one hand, and enhancing the 
development of the Aflatoxins on the other. Similarly, 
peeling off and damaging of the rhizome skin during the 
process of harvesting and drying should be minimized. 
While drying, the rhizomes need to be frequently 
overturned to maintain uniformity of the rhizomes until the 
product attains the moisture content of 7 to 12%, which is 
required for dry ginger. 

Washing the rhizomes before drying, that is practiced 

  
  

 
 

 

by a single wholesaler company the areas, is unthinkable 
by farmers in the region. Surprisingly, no significant price 
variation per unit volume was made between products 
that have subjected to drying on the cemented and non-
cemented floor. As far as the volume of ginger that a 
farmer owns and water availability for washing the 
rhizomes is concerned, washing rhizomes at individual 
farmer‟s level would be impractical. Therefore, it will be 
essential to design the strategy, which possibly involves 
cooperatives and/or interested investors. The 
cooperatives or the investors may collect fresh ginger 
rhizomes from individual farmers on a given price 
agreement and they may add value to the product by 
washing and drying or they can sellout the rhizomes after 
washing to any enterprise/company for further 
processing.  

In general, drying process employed in the region so far 
for the preparation of dried ginger is too primitive and, 
hence could not maintain the product‟s quality. 
Consequently, its contribution to the livelihood of ginger 
growers and to the economy of the country has been 
insignificant. Thus, it calls for the joint effort of the actors 
including farmers, private sector, GOs and NGOs in order 
that quality dried ginger product might be supplied and 
become competitive in the global market. 
 

 

Storage 

 

Storage provides protection against weather, moisture, 
insects, micro organisms, rodents and any type of 
infestation and contamination. In SNNPRS, farmers often 
sellout their fresh ginger immediately after harvesting 
especially, when there is a high market demand. As a 
matter of fact, the ginger market has always been so 
much unstable and farmers are enforced to keep their 
produce in the storage for some period after drying until 
they get remunerative price. Producers store dried ginger 
in their houses using various types of traditional 
structures. Therefore, they use it as a means of value 
addition by changing time of supply of the produce. 
Moreover, storage is practiced to make use of the 
advantage of storage as „saving cash in bank‟. So far, no 
improved structure has been developed for ginger 
storage in the production area.  

It is customary to store dried ginger either in bulk or in 
woven plastic sacks in non cemented dusty rooms, 
sometimes, for up to 10 years, depending on the type of 
the variety and the market demand. However, such 
storage condition not at all fulfills the basic requirements 
for safe and scientific storage. It is evident that the quality 
of ginger decreases with long storage period leading to 
decline in essential oil content. Nevertheless, some 
farmers continue storing their ginger for up to 10 years. 
Therefore, Post-harvest management of ginger like, 
preparation of dried ginger and storage are need imme-
diate attention. 



 
 
 

 

Processing 
 
In Ethiopia, few companies are engaged under two 
categories of ginger processing activities. The first 
category is preparation of dried ginger and, the second is 
extraction of ginger oleoresin. The former has been 
mainly performed by individual ginger producing farmers 
with a negligible portion going to one private enterprise 
situated near Bombe, Wolaita, that is, drying ginger on 
cemented floor after washing. The latter has been carried 
out by two factories known as Ethiopian Spices Extraction 
Factory (formerly owned by the government and has 
recently been privatized), and KASK (privately owned and 
now on the hands of a Bank due to liability). The two 
companies (Ethiopian Spices Factory and KASK), which 
are engaged in oleoresin extraction could not operate to 
their full capacity due to the following reasons: 

 

1. The dried ginger has been full of impurity as it is 
prepared traditionally by local farmers. 
2. There is low percentage of oleoresin content per unit 
volume of ginger as a result of perenniated/extended 
harvest, long storage period, over drying and/or re-drying 
due to dampness.  
3. The factories which were designed to extract pepper 

oleoresin formerly require high cost for modification of 

parts. 
 
Currently, both factories are not functional due to 
transition. Even if they operate to their full capacity, it 
would remain insignificant as they absorb only the small 
fraction of the volume of the ginger yield produced per 
year in the region.  

Apart from these, the Ethiopian Essential Oils Research 
Center sometimes extracts essential oils from different 
essential oil yielding plant spices for research purposes. 
Otherwise, no company in the region or at the country 
level was engaged in practical ginger processing activity. 

 

Marketing of ginger products 
 
The issue of marketing is of great importance for 
produces of ginger in the areas. This is due to the fact 
that almost all the total amount of ginger produced by 
small-scale farmers is supplied to market with negligible 
amount locally consumed. However, ginger growing 
farmers have been severely affected by fluctuating 
market prices over years. Hence, production of ginger in 
terms of area has been growing in response to good 
market prices and declining in response to depressing 
prices. Thus, it can be realized that market signals are 
very determinant factors dictating ginger production in the 
areas. 

 

Marketable products of ginger 
 
Three types of ginger products are supplied to market in 

 
 
 
 

 

these areas. The first one is fresh ginger which is usually 
supplied to market in rainy season for immediate cash 
demand. It is also supplied in dry season as assemblers 
collect it for re-sell to large traders after sun-drying. Dry 
season fresh ginger supply also targets local farmers who 
demand it as a planting material. Long ago, Ethiopia was 
exporting some fresh ginger to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and 
Yemen. The fresh Ethiopian ginger was reported to be a 
good product with a nice color, and quality which can be 
stored quite long (Janson, 1981). Currently Ethiopia is not 
exporting fresh ginger. Exporting of fresh ginger demands 
high quality ginger varieties and early time of harvesting 
as well as high financial capacity and transportation 
technology.  

The second type of marketable ginger product is dried 
ginger. In Ethiopia, dried ginger is favorite ginger product 
exchanged in large volumes by all market participants at 
different stages of marketing from local assembling to 
export market. Dried ginger for this purpose is harvested 
8 to 9 months after planting when there is mature rhizome 
with a full aroma, flavor and pungency. Further delay not 
only increases fiber but also decreases oil and oleoresin 
content.  

The third type of marketable ginger products are 
extracted ginger products. These include ginger powder, 
essential oils, oleoresin and others. The extent to which 
rhizomes are treated prior to drying directly affects fiber 
and volatile oil content. Removal of the cork skin reduces 
fiber content but enhances oil loss through rupture of the 
surface oil-cells; thus, cleanly peeled ginger generally has 
a lower oil and fiber content (Pruthi, 1998; Weiss, 2002). 
The benefits from extracting and marketing these 
products are going unreached these times by the country. 
 

 

Ginger production and marketing constraints 
 

Several ginger production and marketing constraints were 
identified by farmers during the survey. Farmers recall 
that one quintal of fresh ginger was equivalent to that of 
about 11 quintals of maize before three years when this 
study was conducted. On the contrary, at present, the 
value of 20 quintals of fresh ginger is less than a value of 
one quintal of maize. This indicates that the market price 
of ginger is declining and that of food crops is rising. At 
present, a quintal of fresh ginger is sold for birr 20 to 30, 
which hardly surpasses the transportation cost to have a 
quintal arrived at the market. Moreover, as ginger crop is 
high-input user such as: high frequency of weeding and 
high input requirements including seed and fertilizers, the 
high cost of production could result in loss if market 
prices are below the expected level as there are 
irregularities. In addition, due to lack of facilities for ginger 
drying, long time is required to get dry ginger by using 
traditional practices that lead to development of fungi 
during wet weather condition contributing to low market 
price.  

Generally, the market price of ginger is highly unstable. 



 
 
 

 

In some years it rises up as high as Birr 2250 per quintal 
of dried ginger as opposed to less than Birr 150 per 
quintal when the price falls down. In the past, according 
to farmers, it was familiar to resume high price after some 
years of price fall. They argue that recently, the price 
change is uncertain and difficult to predict that would 
hamper further ginger production and storage in the 
region.  

Marketing malpractice in ginger marketing has been a 
common practice, especially when the price of ginger 
becomes higher. It is practiced by both the producers and 
traders. Two forms of malpractices by producers in some 
areas of ginger production have been recognized. These 
are mixing a fresh ginger with a damp soil, and a dried 
ginger with special stones having exactly the same 
physical appearance with that of the dried ginger 
rhizomes. Marketing malpractices by regional traders is 
reflected mostly in altering weighing balance adjustments 
to their advantages. For example, their weighing 
balances for a quintal are commonly adjusted to read 125 
to 130 kg for fresh ginger and 110 to 115 kg for dried 
ginger. Moreover, the unit of mass measurement known 
as „Feresula‟, commercially an equivalent of 17 kg, is 
accepted as 20 kg by the regional traders when they buy 
the ginger from the farmers while when they sellout the 
product to the subsequent levels of traders, they restore it 
to 17 kg. Farmers have no role in deciding on the price of 
their produce. It is the traders through illegitimate brokers 
who decide the price of ginger. As a result, farmers have 
no choice than accepting the price set by a few traders. 
Some commercial farmers who attempted to transport 
their produce directly to the wholesalers to the central 
market had been put to tragedy by the action of brokers. 
If brokers get information that a farmer has transported 
the produce to the central market, they tend to shortly 
communicate each other and immediately block the 
farmer not to sellout the produce to the wholesaler. If the 
produce remains unsold, the farmer will be obliged to pay 
higher cost for hoarding the product. The existence of 
middlemen along the ginger marketing chain not only 
reduced the producers‟ share, it also exposed farmers to 
additional expenses by blocking the flow of information. 

  
  

 
 

 

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

 

Ginger has been produced as an important commercial 
horticultural crop in southern Ethiopia. Farmers produce 
different varieties and apply traditional management 
practices. External support in promoting improved 
varieties and management practices is almost non-
existent. Ginger product markets are very volatile and 
price fluctuations create a disincentive for farmers in the 
production of the crop. Thus, researchers have to assist 
farmers in indentifying improved varieties with desirable 
market traits, appropriate agronomic and post- harvest 
management practices including drying methods, sorting 
and grading techniques, as well as processing 
technologies. Extension workers and other development 
practitioners have join hands with the farmers in 
addressing marketing problems such as: easing barriers 
to entry into markets by organizing ginger producers into 
producers and marketing cooperatives. 
 

 
REFERENCES 
 
BOARD (SNNPRS Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development) 

(2008). Unpublished data.  
Hailemichael G, Tesfaye K (2008). The effects of seed rhizome size on 

the growth, yield and economic return of ginger (Zingiber officinale 
Rosc.). Asian J. Plant Sci., 7: 213-217.  

Jansen PCM (1981). Spices, Condiments and Medicinal Plants in 
Ethiopia, their Taxonomy and Agricultural Significance. Wageningen 
PUDOC., pp. 1-132. 

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