Development of regional faba beans value chain (Lower Saxony, Germany)

The Elbmarsch is an area in Lower Saxony, a region in the north of Germany. The region is marked by highly fertile soil. Intensively grain farming dominated the agriculture, till in the beginning of the century problems with decreasing wheat yields an increasing black grass emergence occurred. The farmers of this region tried to solve this agricultural problem in the year 2009 by widening the rotation with recovery crops. The choice fell on faba beans. At the very beginning the problems were on the one hand minor knowledge on cultivating faba beans and on the other hand the crop commercialization. The units were too small for feed producers and a continuous delivery was impossible. Finally the commercialization carried out by the cooperative Raiffeisen Weser-Elbe e. G and Fava Trading. The volume developed from 500 tons of faba beans in the year 2010 to 3.000 tons in the year 2015. In the north of Lower Saxony the main options for distribution are 1) pet food, 2) industrial production of starch, 3) Export 4) feed industry 5) internal use.

The parts of this value chain will be evaluated by surveys and interviews conducted with input suppliers, farmers, collectors, traders and processors to bundle their experience and know-how.