The ANUGA trade fair in Cologne, Germany provided an excellent opportunity for 3 Ethiopian farmer unions to meet with European companies. Previously, they only supplied products to the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange or Ethiopian companies. At ANUGA, they learned that European buyers are more demanding and require them to develop their business. ProFound and its partners SNV and Target are supporting the farmer unions with the necessary market knowledge, business planning and matchmaking.
The study tour was part of the Cooperatives for Change (C4C) programme in Ethiopia. This programme aims to strengthen cooperatives and particularly the marketing of the farm products. To that end, ProFound had also visited the unions in Ethiopia before they came to Germany. With advice from ProFound, the unions prepared cost calculations, samples, product and company documentation and sales stories to use at the trade fair