Impacts of Agricultural Growth Program II Tef Interventions on the Livelihood of Rural Households: Evidence from Central Ethiopia
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Date
2023-09
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Ethiopian Statistical Service
Abstract
The government and other development actors in Ethiopia have promoted agricultural technologies like improved tef varieties to raise agricultural productivity and, in turn, the well-being of farmers. The impacts of these technologies, however, needed to be thoroughly examined. In order to investigate productivity and income, plot-level seed rate and productivity, commercialization, and welfare, 479 farm households from two farming systems in Central Ethiopia - one from users of the Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) II introduced Korra tef variety and the other from non-users - were randomly and proportionately sampled. The study also looks into the effects of the program's Common Interest Groups (CIGs) project on the livelihood of rural women and youth who benefit from it. This dissertation has seven chapters, one introductory and theoretical, five empirical, and one concluding (general conclusions and recommendations) chapters, covering the research issues mentioned. Each empirical chapter addresses issues important to the study's broader goal. The introductory chapter outlines the context, problem statement, pertinent literature, broad goal, and study methodology. Following the introduction, the second chapter examined how adopting Korra tef has impacted the productivity and income of the users. The quantitative data were analyzed using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) technique, and qualitative data substantiated the survey data. The amount of tef production per hectare was used to measure users‘ productivity, and their net income gains from tef were then calculated. The findings showed that adopting Korra tef has boosted tef productivity by about six quintals per ha1 and raised farmers' income by around 29500 Ethiopian Birr per ha1 . The third chapter investigated how plot-level Korra tef seed rate affected productivity. One-way Analysis of Vaiance (ANOVA) was used to examine the productivity results of seed rate users, and the Dose-Response model was used to look into the impacts of seed rate on productivity. The qualitative data was used for validation. The outcome showed that a seed rate of 20kgha-1 , slightly beyond the recommended, was related to the highest average tef production. The fourth chapter examined how the use of Korra tef impacts users' commercialization status. The Household Commercialization Index (HCI) and the PSM were used to assess the level of commercialization and the impact of Korra tef use on commercialization, respectively. According to the HCI results, users and non-users were found in the categories of commercialized and semi-commercialized, respectively. The PSM result similarly showed a positive and significant impact, with users commercializing at a rate that was approximately 23.43% higher than non-users. The fifth chapter looked at how the welfare of the users was impacted by the use of Korra tef. Welfare was proxied by measuring consumption per adult equivalent. One-way ANOVA was used to estimate the farm households' expenditures at various commercialization levels. The PSM was then used to investigate how the Korra tef impacted users' welfare in comparison to non-users. A strong correlation was found between the users‘ spending and commercialization. The PSM outcome also showed that the use of Korra tef had a positive and significant impact on the users' spending. The the results of the effects of CIGs on rural women and youth livelihood is presented in the sixth chapter. A case-based qualitative study used Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews to evaluate the CIG's performances, effectiveness, strengths, limitations, opportunities, and threats. The data arrangement for this study was handled by the MAXQDA 2020 qualitative data analysis package. The data were analyzed using thematic, relational, and content analysis techniques in that order. Some of the positive aspects played by the CIGs were income and a strong social capital for members. The absence of market linkage, workplace, insufficient monitoring and evaluation, coordination among stakeholders, inadequate and improper use of money, and a lack of entrepreneurial education and skill training was on the list. Overall, the findings point to the necessity of encouraging the use of Korra tef variety to boost users' production and income as well as their commercialization and welfare. Users also must be encouraged to employ the suggested seed rates rather than merely adopting improved seed varieties. Finally, for the successful implementation of the CIGs and empowerment of rural women and youth, access to entrepreneurial skill training, coordination among key stakeholders, rigorous monitoring and evaluation, access to market linkage and workplace, and enough funding are advised.
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Keywords
Agricultural Growth Progam II, Korra tef, Users, Non-users, Impact assessment, Common Interest Group, Rural women and youth, Central Ethiopia