Value chain analysis of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) in Humera district, Tigray, Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1. Description of the variables included in the model estimation and its hypothesis

Variable description	Variable type	Unit of measurement	Expected sign
Dependent variable
Quantity of sesame seed supplied to market	Continuous	Quintal (100 kg)
Independent Variables
Access to credit	Dummy		+
Area of sesame	Continuous	Hectares	+
Yield per Ha	Continuous	Quintal per hectare	+
Distance to central market	Continuous	Meter	-
Market price in 2014	Continuous	Birr (Ethiopian currency)	+
Access to market information	Dummy	1 if yes, otherwise, 0	+
Extension service	Dummy	1 if yes, otherwise 0	+
Formal school education	Dummy	1 if yes, otherwise 0	+
Number of family members aged 16 to 69 years	Continuous	Number of productive ages in the households	+
Farmer’s experience on sesame production	Continuous	Number of years	+
Use of improved Seed	Dummy	1 if yes, otherwise, 0	+
Use of Fertilizer	Dummy	1 if yes, otherwise 0	+
Membership in Cooperatives	Dummy	1 if yes, otherwise, 0	+

Figure 1. The sesame value chain map in Humera district.

Source: Authors design based on field data.

Table 2. Costs, marketing profit and margins of actors in sesame value chain

Items (measured Birr/Quintal)	Producers	Traders	Processors	Exporters
Purchase price	–	3660	3900	4039
Production cost	2269	–	–	–
Marketing cost	–	92	500	215
Total cost	2269	3752	4400	4254
Unit sale price (revenue)	3660	4039	5800	4580
Gross profit margin	1391	287	1400	326
% share of profit margin	40.86	8.43	41.13	9.58
Gross margin %	38	7.10	24.14	7.12

Source: Authors computation from the own survey data. Currency listed in Table 2 is in ETB (Ethiopian Birr), at a rate of one USD = 20 ETB during data collection period (2015)

Table 3. OLS results of factors affecting farm-level marketable supply of sesame in Humera district

Variable	Coefficients	Std. Error	t-value
Total land cultivated to sesame	3.508	0.176	19.881***
Yield per hectare	3.499	0.819	11.597***
Distance to central market	0.998	0.515	1.939*
Average selling price	−0.004	0.002	−1.771*
Availability of information access	0.394	1.470	0.268
Extension service access	0.801	1.657	0.483
Loan access	1.973	1.370	1.440
Formal education level	0.170	0.743	0.228
Family member 16–69 aged	1.146	0.653	1.754*
Experience in sesame production	0.349	0.916	0.381
Improved seed usage	3.329	1.516	2.197**
Fertilizer usage	0.980	1.357	0.722
Membership in cooperatives	0.418	1.066	0.392
Constant	−18.124	8.407	−2.156**

Source: Own survey result. Dependent variable: Quantity of sesame supplied to market in the 2015 production year. *** Significant at 1% level of significance, ** significant at 5% level of significance and *Significant at 10% level of significance.