Productivity and welfare effects of agricultural technologies: A study of maize producing households in Ethiopia using PSM approach (original) (raw)
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Adopting improved agricultural technology is important instruments to ensure household food security. There is, however, limited empirical evidence on impacts of adoption of improved maize varieties grown by smallholder farmers. Consequently, the study examined the impact of Limu maize variety adoption on rural households’ food security in Dale Wabara District, Ethiopia. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. Three-stage sampling technique was employed to select 319 households for primary data collection. Binary logit model regression model and propensity score matching model were used to investigate determinants of Limu maize variety adoption and its impact on rural households’ food security, respectively. Furthermore, daily calorie intake per adult equivalent was used to measure food security status of household in study area. According to the results of the binary logit regression model households head education, family size, tot...
Agriculture & Food Security, 2021
Background Adoption of improved agricultural technologies remains to be a promising strategy to achieve food security and poverty reduction in many developing countries. However, there are limited rigorous impact evaluations on the contributions of such technologies on household welfare. This paper investigates the impact of improved agricultural technology use on farm household income in eastern Ethiopia. Methods Primary data for the study was obtained from a random sample of 248 rural households, 119 of which are improved technology users and the rest are non-users. The research employed the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) procedure to establish the causal relationship between adoption of improved crop and livestock technologies and changes in farm income. Results Results from the econometric analysis show that households using improved agricultural technologies had, on average, 23,031.28 Birr (Birr is the official currency of Ethiopia. The exchange rate according to the National ...
African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 2020
Agricultural technologies have been introduced to Ethiopia. Farmers adopt such technologies for bettering their livelihoods by increasing farm production. However, increasing production by itself may not necessarily enhance farmers' livelihoods. Among other factors that can result in enhanced livelihoods, farmers should be linked to output markets to sell their surplus production. This paper evaluates whether the adoption of improved maize varieties increases farmers' output market participation. From data collected by CIMMYT from three woredas of Oromia Region in Ethiopia, 300 sample households were randomly selected for the purpose of this study. Average Treatment Effect (ATE) regression based on propensity score matching (PSM) as well as matching algorithms were utilized to evaluate whether adoption creates market participation for farmers. Results of the PSM show that maize technologies had a robust and positive impact on farmers' output market participation. The matching algorithms also confirm a robust and positive increase in marketed maize output for adopting farmers which ranges from around 442 kg in the case of kernel-based matching at bandwidth of 0.05 to 483 kg in the case of radius matching at a radius of 0.03 at p < 0.01. The results make it plausible to draw implications that adoption increases marketed output and market participation and thereby can uplift smallholder farmers' livelihoods.
2012
This paper analyses the impact of the intensity of improved maize varieties adoption on food security and poverty using data collected in 2010 from maize-legume farming systems in rural Tanzania. We used a continuous treatment approach using generalized propensity score matching and parametric error correction approaches to reduce potential biases stemming from difference in observed characteristics. Estimates of the dose-response functions reveal that average probability of food security, average per capita food expenditure and the average probability of break-even and food surplus increase with the intensity of adoption. On the other hand, the probability of being poor, chronic and transitory food insecurity declines with the intensity of adoption. The results provide strong evidence for heterogeneous food security impacts at different levels of adoption. At low levels of adoption, the average and marginal treatment effects are low while the food security impacts increase substant...
Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, 2016
Ethiopian agriculture the back bone of the economy yet is characterized by small scale farming and experienced erratic rainfall as well as drought. The low produce can possibly grow through developing technology adoption and improved practices on the marginal farm lands. This study, therefore, examines the impact of wheat row planting technology adoption on small farms yield in Ofla Woreda, Southern zone of Tigrai, and Ethiopia using a primary data sources from a survey of a random sample of 300 small scale farm household heads. Of which 99 household heads were wheat row planting adopters (users) and the remaining 201were wheat grower households sow in broadcasting method non adopters (non users).To deal with this, propensity score matching (PSM) econometric tool was implemented. Next, the average treatment effects on the treated (ATT) estimated result was obtained using PSM method and has proven that wheat row planting technology adopter small farm household heads was gotten with a range of 40 to 60 quintal of wheat yield per hectare at a cost of sowing 4,800 ETB larger in a single production year unlike to the matched control group which is below 20 quintal at a Birr 3,600 cost of sowing. At the end, the researcher has recommended that scaling up of wheat row planting technology adoption as a package to increase wheat crop output on the marginal land and fasten the anti-poverty policy struggle is indispensable in Southern Tigrai, Ethiopia.
Development Studies Research, 2017
The aim of this study is to measure the impact of improved maize varieties on farm productivity and smallholders' wellbeing using data collected from the East Hararghe Zone of Ethiopia. We combined propensity score matching method with endogenous switching regression to estimate the impact on the welfare of farmers and we applied the stochastic frontier corrected for sample selection to measure the impact on farm productivity. The results show that adoption of improved maize varieties leads to significant gains in wellbeing and improves farm productivity.
This study was carried out during April -September 2013 in the North West Region of Cameroon on the socio-economic analysis and adoption of improved maize varieties (IMVs).One hundred and forty farmers were administered semi-structured questionnaires and the data were analysed using SPSS. Socio-economic analysis showed that majority of the sample size were female (50.70%), aged below 50 with an average of nine members per household. Majority of the respondents were Christians (82.60%) and had formal education with access to extension services (72.70%). Most of the farmers depended on household generated income mainly from farm activities. Most of the farm sizes were below 2ha indicating low scale production and low capacity to obtain loans. In the study area, maize was allocated over 60.00% of the farm lands. The level of adoption was found to be 74.30%, with 25.70% of the farmers cultivating both IMVs and local ones. Three IMVs were Manu et al.; AJAEES, 4(1): 58-66, 2015; Article no.AJAEES.2015.007 59 identified -Coca white, Kasai and ATP with the latter being the most widely cultivated. Chi Square test was used to analyze the determining factor of adoption of IMVs. Gender, level of education, access to extension services, access to credit/loans and possession of off-farm income were found to be the determinants meanwhile the other factors were not. The t-test was used to analyze the four pillars of food security as concerns produced maize in adopter and non-adopter households. The analysis showed that there was a significant difference between the level of yields and quantity sold. This study concluded that adopting improved maize seeds is beneficial to the farmers.
2021
This paper examines factors determining farmers’ adoption decision for improved maize varieties in the maize-common bean intercropping practices in two districts of East Hararghe zone, Eastern Ethiopia. It is based on data collected from 129 farm households using structured questionnaire. Descriptive results revealed that adopters of improved maize varieties had better food and nutrition security status. Furthermore, logit model output indicated that the decision to adopt improved maize varieties is influenced by location (district) dummy, education status of the household head, age of the household head, distance from the main road, and the number of plots owned. Major recommendations include improving the rural road infrastructure, educating and training farmers, organizing experience sharing events among farmers, and raising awareness about the food and nutrition security benefits of sustainable agricultural intensification practices like intercropping improved maize with improve...
Ex-Post Impacts of Improved Maize Varieties on Poverty in Rural Ethiopia
Public agricultural research has been conducted in Africa for decades. While many studies have examined its aggregate impacts, few have investigated how it affects the poor. This paper helps fill this gap by applying a new procedure to explore the ex post impacts of improved maize varieties on poverty in rural Ethiopia. Plot-level yield and cost changes due to adoption are first estimated using instrumental variable and marginal treatment effect techniques where possible heterogeneity is carefully accounted for. A backward derivation procedure is then developed to link treatment effect estimates with an economic surplus model to identify the counterfactual household income that would have existed without improved maize varieties. Poverty impacts are finally estimated by exploiting the differences between observed and counterfactual income distributions. Improved maize varieties have led to a 0.8-1.3 percentage drop of poverty headcount ratio and relative reductions of poverty depth and severity. However, poor producers benefit the least from adoption due to the smallness of their land holdings.
Adoption and continued use of improved maize seeds: Case study of Central Ethiopia
African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2010
The literature on agricultural technology is limited on the issue of the continued use of an agricultural technology after it is adopted. This paper analyzes the factors that explain adoption as well as continued use of improved maize seeds in one of the high potential maize growing areas in central Ethiopia. Using a bivariate probit with sample selection model approach, the study provides insights into the key factors associated with adoption of improved maize seed and its continued use. The result revealed that human capital (adult workers, off-farm work and experience in hiring labor), asset endowment (size of land owned), institutional and policy variables (access to credit, membership in cooperatives) all strongly influence farmers' decisions to adopt improved maize varieties, while continuous use of the seed is influenced by the proportion of farmland allocated to maize, literacy of the household head, involvement in off-farm work, visits by extension agents, farmers' experience, household land size, and fertilizer usage. Accordingly, policies and interventions that are informed about such factors are required to accelerate adoption and continued use of improved maize seeds in order to increase farm yields and remedy shortage of food and fight food poverty and insecurity more effectively and more sustainably.