Agricultural Transformation Agency

The Government of Ethiopia established the Agricultural Transformation Agency (the Agency or ATA) by Federal Regulation in December 2010 as a catalyst for positive, transformational, and sustainable change. The primary aim of the Agency is to promote agricultural sector transformation by supporting existing structures of government, private sector and other non-governmental partners to address systemic bottlenecks in delivering on a priority national agenda for achieving growth and food security.

The Agency’s formation results from two years of extensive diagnostic study across eight sub - sectors of Ethiopia’s agricultural system in a highly consultative, multi - stakeholder process led by the Ministry of Agriculture. It has been modeled after similar public - sector bodies in Asia (i.e. Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, etc.) that played important roles in the growth of those national economies. The Agency’s structure and function is focused on nimble, innovative and results - oriented support to a range of partners in the agricultural sector.

More specifically, the Agency has been created to respond to a core set of needs identified by the Ministry of Agriculture and its governing Transformation Council. Although it is a nationally oriented organization, in the initial stage of its work, the Agency will focus its efforts both programmatically and geographically.

The ATA’s mandate is articulated in the Ethiopian Council of Ministers Regulations No. 198/2010 and 380/2016, which specify four distinct Strategic Goals for the agency:

• To identify systemic constraints of agricultural development, through conducting studies, and recommend solutions in order to ensure sustainability and structural transformation;
  
• To support implementation of recommended solutions;
  
• To support the establishment of strong linkages among agricultural and related institutions and projects in order to ensure the effectiveness of agricultural development activities;
  
• To manage and lead the implementation of specific solutions as projects.In order to effectively operationalize these Strategic Goals, the ATA has defined the following organizational vision and mission, and organizational values which guide our day - to - day operations and how we aim to work.

Vision: By 2025, smallholder farmers are commercialized with greater incomes, inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability, contributing to Ethiopia’s achievement of middle - income country status.

Mission: To sustainably increase the production, productivity and income of smallholder farmers by transforming the agriculture sector towards a commercially oriented system.

Values:

• Innovative: We search for and generate transformational ideas and technologies that catalyse change;
  
• Evidence - Based: Our decisions and actions are driven by data, analysis, evaluation and learning;
  
• Focused: We work on a limited set of priorities that best use resources, reduce complexity, and maximize impact;
  
• Collaborative: We closely engage diverse colleagues and partners to decide, act and learn together;
  
• Impact - driven: We strive to transform the lives of smallholder farmers by understanding and addressing their evolving priorities.