The Impact of Cluster Farming on Crop Productivity in Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia: Evidence from Dejen Woreda
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Date
2022-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Cluster farming is one of the approaches formulated in the Ethiopian agricultural sector to uphold location-based initiatives with an aim to modernize the smallholder farming subsector and leap forward from the traditional, less productive, and subsistence farming to a new and systematic way of production. In the case of Ethiopia, cluster farming is not a thing any farmer could adopt unless whose land falls into selected suitable sites. This study was initiated to understand the impact of cluster farming on teff crop productivity by drawing evidence form Dejen Woreda. And at the same time to understand how clusters are formed and how farmers are perceived the approach. Both quantitative and qualitative types of cross-sectional data were collected from randomly selected 384 participant and non-participant households and both descriptive and econometrics (Propensity Score Matching) data analysis tools were used by taking the approach (CF) itself as a determinant of productivity. Accordingly, the results show that the formation process was top-down and not in complement with ATA’s framework when it comes to consulting famers, providing explanations, providing training. In relation to farmers perception, results show that farmers have positively accepted and perceived the approach even if most of them believed that participation hasn’t brought change except input usage, getting more extension service and lowering of pest infestation. In terms of teff productivity, the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) estimation also show that participant farmers had advantage of teff productivity by 208 kg/ha or 2 quintals compared to non-participants. The study asserted that the approach indeed has a positive impact on teff productivity and it is positively accepted. Thus, finding of the study suggest that the approach has encouraging roles to capitalize on and some loopholes that needs attention of the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Dejen woreda agricultural office, woreda official, experts’ development agents and farmers themselves regarding sensitization and awareness creation, provision of training, facilitating credit services and other essentials including the quality of extension services, input, technology and market as per the approaches recommendations and packages
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Keywords
Cluster, Cluster farming, Propensity score matching, Crop productivity, Ethiopia, Teff