Prepared for World Food Programme
Ministry of Agriculture
Southern Nations, Nationalities, Peoples' Regional State
UNDP Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia
May, 1996
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Table of Contents

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION
 
Definition of Terms

The Need for Assessing Enset Production

	Enset production data of the past
	Attempts to measure Enset yields
	Production assessment methods and survey techniques

The Enset Cropping Areas

	Cropping systems
	Nutritional comparisons
	Production reliability and improvements needed

METHODOLOGY OF THE ENSET PLANT YIELD REGRESSION STUDY

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF THE PLANT YIELD REGRESSION STUDY

	Plant sampling
	Development of the regression equation

Factors that could bias the regression relationship

	Processing status of the samples measured
	Plant architecture
	Seasonal moisture content
	Processing methodology
	Plant maturity

METHODOLOGY OF ASSESSMENT OF HOUSEHOLD AND NATIONAL KOCHO PRODUCTION

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF HOUSEHOLD AND NATIONAL KOCHO PRODUCTION

	Number and measurement of plants harvested
	Production per plant, per household and per hectare
	National production and hectarage in Ethiopia
	Comparison to previous assessment data
	Effect of age structure and early harvesting on assessment

Factors influencing Enset production and hectarage in Ethiopia

	Enset food utilization and household food security
	Household financial security in relation to Enset cropping
	De-villagization, land tenure and land resource allocation
	Free market systems and commercial production
	Diseases and pests of Enset

Future Developments in Enset utilization

	Overpopulation, rural poverty and cereal price parity
	Spread of Enset growing to Eastern and Northern areas
	Urban poverty, food prices and cultural traditions
	Use in mixed flours for injera and other products
	Soil fertility, land degradation and fertilizer costs
	Land shortage and livestock forage needs
	Intercropping with legumes and cereals

List of Tables

Table 1. Crop assessment and food aid needs for Ethiopia for 1993 and 1994.
Table 2. Annual national food production in Ethiopia for the years 1987-1993.
Table 3. Hectarage and production of Enset products in the Southern Ethhiopia Peoples Administrative Region in 1994.
Table 4. Kocho yield statistics for individually measured plants by age and region.
Table 5. Effect of transplanting on Enset growth and Kocho yield.
Table 6. Enset cropping data from sample farms of the Southern Ethiopia Peoples Administrative Region in march, 1995.
Table 7. Nutritive value of some common foods consumed in the Enset growing areas.
Table 8. Distribution of Kocho plant samples by weight categories.
Table 9. Enset plants measurement and derived Kocho weight data used in formulating the regression model.
Table 10. The correlation matrix for plant Kocho yield with plant size characters over the 60 sample cases.
Table 11. Estimation of plant Kocho yields using a range of plant measurements substituted into the regression equation.
Table 12. Plants harvested and plant measurements and plantation hectarage for 100 households sampled by wereda, zone and region.
Table 13. Enset production per plant, per household and per wereda from the survey data.
Table 14. Reported Enset hectarage, production and production/ hectare as compared to assessment study data.
 

List of Figures

Figure 1. Parts of the Enset plant.
Figure 2. Geographic map of the Enset growing area.
Figure 3. Wereda map of the Enset growing area.
Figure 4. Agroecological map of the Enset growing area.

List of Graphs

Graph 1. Graph of predicted Kocho production for various plant measurements using the regression equation.
Diagram of the Enset Plants
 
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