Browsing by Author "Damte Abebe"

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    Farm Households Labor Supply to off Farm Activities in Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa University, 2002-06) Damte Abebe; WoldeHanna Tassew
    Farm households in Ethiopia are participating in off farm activities to supplement their farm income. Despite the importance of off farm income to the farmers less attention was given to the sector. There is also little empirical evidence on the off farm labor supply behavior of farm households in Ethiopia. Understanding the factors that affect the off farm work decisions is very important for rural development in general and farmers in particular. Therefore this paper tries to see the off farm participation decision and labor supply behavior of farm households in Ethiopia. It uses the 1999 Ethiopian rural household survey conducted by the department of economics of Addis Ababa University in collaboration with the US AID. The bivariate probit and Tobit models are used to analyze the data. The results of the study indicated that various individual and farm characteristics affect the off farm work participation and labor supply decisions of farmers. Of the human capital variables, education of the household head does not affect the off farm work decisions of farmers. It increases the return on the farm. But average schooling of the family positively affects the off farm labor supply of males. The off farm wage rate is significantly affected by the level of schooling of the household members and is more important for female members than males. The other human capital variables included in the study, farm experience, handicraft training, and health status of the family are important factors that affect the off farm work decisions of farm households. The availability of financial sources has a significant impact on farmers’ decision to engage in the sector. The negative effect with land size shows that poor and landless households will be benefited from the sector
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    Farmers' Willingness to Pay for Improved Soil Conservation Practices on Communal Lands in Ethiopia (Case Study in Kuyu Woreda)
    (Addis Ababa University, 2015-05) Kasaye Belay; Damte Abebe
    This study examines the farmers‟ willingness to pay for improved soil conservation practices on communal lands of Kuyu woreda in Ethiopia. The objective of this study is to investigate the farmers‟ willingness to pay for improved soil conservation practices on communal lands of Kuyu woreda. Both single and double-bounded dichotomous format of contingent valuation method is used to elicit respondents‟ WTP for improved soil conservation practice in terms of labor contribution. Data collected from 184 household heads were used for analysis. Both the Probit and Bivariate Probit models were estimated. The result of the study indicated that most of the respondents have perceived the problem of soil erosion and are willing to pay for conservation practices. Household characteristics such as sex of household head, education level of the head are significant determinants of farmers‟ WTP for soil conservation. Farmer‟s wealth indictors such as livestock and income were included and found to have a positive and significant influence on the probability of WTP for soil conservation. Variables such as slope of land, perception about soil erosion problem, and the frequency of extension visit have also a positive and significant effect on the WTP for soil conservation. The study also show that the mean willingness to pay estimated from the Double Bounded Dichotomous Choice and open ended formats was 85.36 and 83.22 Labor days per annum, respectively. The respective total aggregate value of soil conservation in the study varies from 10,649,907 Labor days per annum (191,698,326 ETB) in open ended to 10,909,349 person days per annum (196,368,282 ETB) from double bound CVM. Therefore, policy and program intervention designed to address soil erosion problems in the study area have needed to take in to account these characteristics.