Effect of Agricultural Extension Program on Smallholders' Farm Productivity: Evidence from Three Peasant Associations in the Highlands of Ethiopia
By Asres Elias, Makoto Nohmi, K. Yasunobu, A. Ishida. 2013
121 citations recorded by the source corpus.
This study evaluates the effect of agricultural extension program participation on farm productivity taking three case study kebeles (peasant associations) in Ethiopia. A total of 1112 plot-level data collected from 300 selected farm households, comprising of extension participants and non-participants, were used in the study. The study begins the estimation with simple Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method. To deal with the potential bias due to the existence of observed and unobserved characteristics, we employed Heckman Treatment Effect Model (HTEM) and Propensity Score Matching (PSM). The OLS result shows that extension participation increases farm productivity by about 6%. However, both HTEM and PSM clearly reveal the presence of selection bias in extension program participation which leads to underestimation of the OLS estimates. The participation could have increased farm productivity by up to 20% had it not been to the serious selection bias related to non-farming factors such as involvement in kebele administration, and wealth status of the participants observed during program placement. Our PSM analysis also verifies the positive effect of extension program participation on farm productivity. In conclusion, the extension program has a positive effect on farm productivity in the study area. However, its effect with its current structure and input could have tripled had there been no bias related to extension program participation. This result provides a valuable policy insight in which improving access to diversified and quality agricultural inputs are critically necessary for the participants on top of expanding the program to less resourceful farmers by avoiding any entry barriers in the future.
Subfields: General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Safety Research, Soil Science
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1cfbd18648809df10f4d05183a44b19ac74b1be0
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In General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
In Soil Science
Citations in the corpus
- Determinants of the Adoption of Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices by Small-Scale Farming Households in King Cetshwayo District Municipality, South Africa (2019, background): “[54] argued that equal participation of men and women in agriculture would enhance agricultural production.”
- Household Food Security Status and Its Determinants in Maphumulo Local Municipality, South Africa (2018, background): “[53] pointed out that if both men and women have more equal participation in agriculture, production can be enhanced and with it the food security status.”