Journal of Marketing and Consumer Research www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8451 An International Peer-reviewed Journal DOI: 10.7176/JMCR Vol.53, 2019 1 Challenges and Opportunities of Mango Production and Marketing in Assosa Zone of Benishangul Gumuz Region: Evidence from Ethiopia Regasa Dibaba 1 Afework Hagos 1 Adam Bekele 2 Dawit Alemu 3 1.Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research/Assosa Research Center, P.O. Box 265, Assosa, Ethiopia 2.Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research/Melkasa Research Center, Melkasa, Ethiopia 3.Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, P.O. Box 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Abstract In support of stimulating growth, economic development, food security and alleviating poverty in Benishangul- Gumuz region in particular mango fruits play an important role in an on-going or future fruit development plan. In spite of the importance of mango fruits in generating income for smallholders’ farmers, challenges and opportunities in mango production and marketing have not yet studied. As a result a cross sectional data was collected from 150 mango producer farmers. Moreover, focus group discussions using pre-tested semi structured questionnaires and checklists respectively and it was supplemented by secondary data collected from different published and unpublished sources. As a result, it provides basic and relevant information on production trends; marketing and consumption, access to governmental institutions, micro-finance, and technology transfer of mango improved varieties of the smallholder farmers were identified. Hence, developmental endeavors should be work on the identified gaps that could milk the opportunities and fill skills and knowledge gaps of smallholder farmers so as to improve their livelihoods. In this arena, emphasis should be given to improve effective production and marketing of mango. Keywords: Mango, challenges, opportunities, Benishangul Gumuz DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/53-01 1. Background And Justification Fresh tropical fruits are on winning ground in world markets (Anonymous, 2001). Lumpkin et al. (2005) also pointed out worldwide production of fruit and vegetable crops have grown faster than that of cereal crops. Moreover, figuratively, pineapple accounts for 44% of the total traded volume, followed by mangoes (27%), avocados (12%) and papayas (7%). The main reason for increase in demand of tropical fruits is the growing familiarity of consumers with tropical fruits; their taste, nutritional value and cooking qualities (Yeshitla (2004) are among the others. Ethiopia is agro-ecologically diverse and is suitable for growing temperate, sub-tropical or tropical fruits. For example, substantial areas in the south and south-western parts of the country receive sufficient rainfall to support fruits adapted to the respective climatic conditions. In addition, there are many rivers and streams which could be used to grow various horticultural crops. Despite this potential, however, production-market chore of fruits has remained immature in the country (Joosten, 2007) mainly due to traditional focus which was in favor of cereals. Serious lack of information and ‘on and off’ productions have also played their deterring role (Naamani, 2007). Realizing these gaps, lately however, the government of Ethiopia has launched enabling environment to encourage chain actors. As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture has elevated the horticulture sub- sector from a small section to a level of agency (World Bank, 2004; Joosten, 2007; Kahsay et al., 2008). More than 47 thousand hectares of land is under fruit crops in Ethiopia. Bananas contributed about 60.56% of the fruit crop area followed by Mangoes that contributed 12.61% of the area. Nearly 3.5 million quintals of fruits was produced in the country. Bananas, papaya, mangoes and orange took up 55.32%, 12.53%, 12.78% and 8.35% of the fruit production, respectively (CSA, 2009). However, less than 2 % of all the produce is exported (Joosten, 2007). These fruits are typically cultivated to supplement household income from their main crops. In Ethiopia, the existing income generating capacity of fruits as compared to its immense potentials at the macro and micro level is not encouraging. According to Yilma (2009), the production potential of fruits is not widely and evenly distributed across the various regions of the country. The cultivation is also seasonal and the supply is scanty and volatile even in areas where irrigation is possible. The knowledge gap on fruit production techniques and processing technologies is wide. Also, knowledge of domestic consumers of the benefits of fruits is confined to very few varieties of fruits. Hence, domestic demand, with the exception of few widely known tropical fruits, is generally small and, various studies show that people generally consume fruits and vegetables on a daily basis, without considering them as basic. These factors have adversely affected the growth and expansion of the fruit sub-sector in Ethiopia.Part of this, Assosa zone is endowed with diverse natural resource and has the capacity to grow different annual and perennial crops. Moreover, fruit production in the area is mainly for market. Though mango is the major fruit in the area the production and marketing challenges and