Ethiopian agricultural markets face challenges despite extensive reforms, which have not yielded expected impacts in growth and poverty alleviation. A concerted focus on getting markets right is critical after reform. Market development is a long-term agenda, requiring a progressive and integrative perspective that addresses the 3 I's: Institutions, Infrastructure, and Incentives. There is an important role for the stage in all of these dimensions, in supporting and facilitating the functional of the private sector.

The national strategy and objective for agricultural marketing focuses on 1. Making markets effective 2. Sustaining and increasing foreign exchange earnings and 3. Increasing productivity by supplying agricultural inputs and products efficiently. Market standards and active monitoring processes will be established to assure the progress of these market development efforts that will be supplemented by a capacity strengthening campaign that will sustain the market development agenda and manage the implementation of reforms.

Making markets work requires an efficient and sustainable flow of information that many poor countries lack. Market Information System (MIS) have the potential to fill the gap by providing all the players in the market with the resources to overcome the greatest market obstacles such as high transaction costs, weak competition and even inform policy decisions. To achieve the potential of MIS, Ethiopia can learn from the other sub-Saharan countries that have experimented with and successfully implemented various MIS models.

Another important aspect of an effective market is the quality of the goods that are sold. Standards to ensure the quality of goods are thus significant determinants of the effectiveness and productivity of markets. For the purpose of promoting competitive markets as well as protecting consumers from dangerous and unsafe products that may be found in the markets, the state can take a leading role in setting and enforcing quality standards.

An agricultural commodity exchange is based on a free market system and facilitates trade between farmers and buyers in agricultural goods and provides daily prices of farm produce. It has the potential to transform the Ethiopian agricultural market as it has done in other Sub-Saharan African countries like Zimbabwe. The benefits for the agricultural sector include improved market access and communication, increased competition, and ultimately more efficient and cost-effective markets. Moreover, a successful commodity exchange also allows for all sectors to participate and can thus increase the economic productivity of the country.