AGRA

Bekelech’s Journey and the Future of Women Farmers

 In the quiet highlands of Darga Kebele, deep in Kembata Zone, in the Central Ethiopia Regional State, Wro Bekelech Anitu has worked her land with enduring strength and persistent hope. A widow and mother of seven, she has long cultivated her two hectares not for profit, but for survival. For years, her carefully gathered harvests were lost to fire, consumed by rodents, or sold hastily at low prices to meet urgent household needs.

But on 24 June 2025, Bekelech stood before a national audience at Addis Ababa’s Skylight Hotel—honored as a model farmer and recognized as the voice of a new chapter in Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation. She was celebrated at the “She Stores – She Gains” workshop, a national platform promoting the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) as a tool to unlock finance, improve storage, and empower smallholder women farmers across the country.

Through the WRS, Bekelech now stores her grain in a certified warehouse, preserves its market value, and accesses short-term credit using her harvest as collateral—a financial mechanism she once believed was never meant for someone like her.

“Now I can store my harvest. I can wait. I sell when prices are fair. And I have hope again,” she shared. “I now have a TIN number, a land certificate, and all the documents banks ask for. But still—there are long procedures, delays, and too many steps. We do everything we’re told, but the system isn’t moving fast enough for women like me.”

Her story drew heartfelt applause—not only for its honesty, but for what it symbolized. Bekelech’s journey embodies the rationale behind Ethiopia’s scale-up of the WRS, in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration (MoTRI), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and AGRA: to modernize rural markets, improve livelihoods, and close the gender gap in agricultural finance.

At the event, Mr Tarekegne Shibeshi, Head of Market Infrastructure and Marketing Facility Desk at MoTRI, emphasized the system’s alignment with Ethiopia’s Ten-Year Development Plan, which aims to strengthen value chains and drive inclusive rural growth.

“Over 2.2 billion Birr in loans have already been accessed through the WRS by actors across the agricultural value chain,” he stated. “This is not just a financing tool for women—it’s a pathway to economic prosperity, especially for women whose labor has long been undervalued.”

Yet Bekelech remains an exception. Today, few WRS loan recipients are women. The barriers they face are systemic and deeply embedded—rooted in restrictive gender norms, institutional blind spots, and structural exclusion.

In many communities, social norms often constrain women’s financial decision-making power. Banking systems continue to favor conventional, asset-heavy collateral requirements—rendering women ineligible due to limited access to immovable assets. Even when eligible, women face gaps in awareness, outreach, and financial services that rarely communicate through channels accessible to them.

“No one explained that I could use my crops as collateral,” Bekelech said. “No one came—until recently. We only heard about it through neighbors.”

There is also a persistent capacity gap. Most women lack training in financial literacy, loan negotiation, and business planning—skills essential to navigating the WRS, managing repayment timelines, and building long-term creditworthiness. Even with documentation and eligibility, many lack proximity, confidence, or timely support.

Dr Yihenew Zewdie, AGRA Ethiopia Country Director, emphasized that systems must go beyond providing access—they must be intentionally redesigned to include those long left out.

“This system puts real economic power into the hands of producers,” he said. “But if it’s to work for women, our banks, cooperatives, and extension agents must unlearn the rules that kept women out for so long.”

As the workshop concluded, Mrs Meskerem Bahiru, Chief Executive Officer of Export Promotion and Market Facility at MoTRI, reinforced the government’s commitment to making the system work for all.

“This initiative is part of Ethiopia’s Ten-Year Development Plan—and we will implement it with synergy,” she affirmed. “Government, partners, cooperatives, and financial institutions must work together so that farmers like Wro. Bekelech are no longer the exception, but the norm.”

If Ethiopia’s Warehouse Receipt System is to fulfill its promise, it must do more than modernize infrastructure—it must unlock national productivity. Reaching rural women farmers is not merely a matter of equity; it is an economic necessity. When women gain secure access to certified storage and tailored finance, the impact is measurable: reduced post-harvest losses, improved price realization, greater resilience, and stronger participation in formal markets. Enabling women to store, plan, and trade effectively increases household incomes, stabilizes rural economies, and drives inclusive GDP growth.

This is not social spending—it is a high-return investment in Ethiopia’s economic transformation.

She stores.

She gains.

And through her, Ethiopia grows.