Cereal Marketing and Household Market Participation in Ethiopia: The Case of Teff, Wheat and Rice

Teff, wheat and rice are becoming important market oriented crops in Ethiopia. This study aims at analyzing the market participation of farm households, market actors, market channels and determinants of household market participation for these crops. Results are based on analysis of data collected from community and household surveys in three districts in three regional states of the country in 2005. Analysis of descriptive information and econometric analysis are used. About 65 - 77% of households produce these market oriented commodities, on about 27 – 44% of the total cultivated area. About 47 – 60% of the produce of these market oriented commodities is sold. The important market places for producers of these commodities are the district town markets and markets located at the peasant associations. Markets in other district towns or regional markets are not important for producers. Wholesalers and retailers are the most important buyers from producers. Average distance to market places for these commodities is about two walking hours. Econometric analyses showed that access to markets as measured by distance to market places does not have effect on market orientation of households in the study area. We find evidence of an U-shaped relationship between age of household head and market orientation of households in the cereal crops. Availability of cultivated land, traction power and household labor supply are important factors that induces households to be market oriented. The resource poverty of female headed households seems to detract from market orientation. While household size tends to favor food security objectives, number of dependents is associated with market orientation. Our results imply that improvements of markets to benefit producers need to be targeted at the district level. Improving the operations of factor markets of land, traction and farm labor could contribute to enhancing market orientation of farm households. Special attention is needed to female headed households to induce them to be market oriented.Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Commercialization of Smallholders: Is Market Participation Enough?

The literature on commercial transformation of smallholders makes little distinction between market orientation (production decision based on market signals) and market participation (sale of output). However, policy implications to enhance commercial transformation of subsistence agriculture drawn from the analysis of the determinants of household market participation alone could be inadequate, if in fact, the determinants of market orientation and market participation are not the same or not consistent with each other. This paper analyzes the determinants of market orientation and market participation in Ethiopia separately and examines if market orientation translates into market participation. Empirical results show that the determinants of market orientation and market participation in crop output markets are not the same, but market orientation translates strongly into market participation. Results imply that while interventions to enhance market orientation could also help in promoting market participation, interventions to promote market participation may not be adequate to promote market orientation.commercialization, smallholders, market orientation, market participation, Marketing, C21, C24, Q12, Q13,

THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF CROP ROTATION SYSTEMS: EVIDENCE FROM THE LITERATURE

Agricultural sustainability requires that the individual farm firm be competitive and profitable while simultaneously enhancing environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the farm firm and agricultural economy depends. The reliance of conventional agriculture systems on purchased inputs external to the firm presents possible challenges to the long-term sustainability of the system. Crop rotation systems are one cropping system alternative that can reduce agriculture's dependence on external inputs through internal nutrient recycling, maintenance of the long-term productivity of the land, and breaking weed and disease cycles. Decision criteria to choose among competing crop rotation systems can include impact on soil quality and fertility, environmental quality, and farm profitability. However, most of the comparative economic analysis work reviewed for this paper considered only farm profitability as a criterion to rank alternative crop rotation systems. Most rotation research is focused around a target crop that is the foundation for the crop rotation system. When corn is the target crop, comparative profitability performance of continuous corn vs. corn grown in rotation showed that neither system is consistently more profitable than another. Corn yield in Michigan does respond favorably to crop diversity. Wheat as the target crop in rotation tends to outperform continuous wheat both in terms of profitability and income risk. Sugar beet prices hold the key in determining the profitability ranking of alternative sugar beet-based crop rotations. Potato in rotations tends to outperform continuous potato both in terms of yield and profitability. Future studies addressing the economic performance of crop rotations need to consider the environmental benefits/costs both on and off the farm site that accrue to society. Keywords: Agricultural sustainability, external inputs, soil quality and fertility, environmental quality, crop rotations, comparative economic analysis, farm profitability.Agricultural sustainability, external inputs, soil quality and fertility, environmental quality, crop rotations, comparative economic analysis, farm profitability., Crop Production/Industries,

Prices and Poverty in Urban Ethiopia

Poverty is an ongoing issue in Ethiopia. The identification of policy options to address the problem primarily requires that poverty be measured accurately. One of the most important ingredients in the measurement of poverty are prices. The magnitude of poverty is affected by how cost of living differences across time and regions are adjusted. This paper derives a set of price indices for Urban Ethiopia using data from four urban household surveys conducted in 1994, 1995, 1997, and 2000. The results show that the cities of Dire Dawa and Mekelle are the two most expensive cities, while Jimma and Bahir Dar are the least expensive. The findings also confirm that poverty is indeed high in urban Ethiopia with poverty head count of over 40 percent. Poverty estimates derived using country level consumer price indexes, which do not adjust for spatial cost of living differences, are misleading. But using poverty lines as deflators to account for price differences does not affect the poverty estimates obtained.Poverty; Urban Ethiopia; Price indexes

County-Level Determinants of Local Public Services in Appalachia: A Multivariate Spatial Autoregressive Model Approach

In this paper, multivariate spatial autoregressive model of local public expenditure determination is developed. The empirical model is developed based on maximization of community utility function. The model is estimate by efficient GMM using Appalachian counties and the results indicate significant spatial spillover effects with respect to local public expenditures.Public Economics,

PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF THE WORLD FOOD SITUATION

Although world food and agricultural production, based on current trends, will be sufficient to meet demand in the decades ahead, the world still faces a serious food crisis, at least as perilous and life-threatening for millions of poor people as those of the past. To this end, the main objective of this paper is to illuminate the world food situation and to provide a critical analysis of the core causes of world food insecurity by identifying the various misconceptions surrounding our understanding of hunger, starvation, and poverty. A clear and deeper awareness of the real causes of hunger and malnutrition in poor countries is imperative to enable and challenge policy makers and planners to lay the groundwork at the grass-roots level for appropriate policy measures and development programs designed to alleviate poverty and ensure food security.food distribution, food security, food supply, hunger, malnutrition, poverty, Food Security and Poverty,

Policies and institutions to enhance the impact of irrigation development in mixed crop-livestock systemsLength: pp.168-184

Irrigation managementInstitutional developmentPolicyCrop productionLivestockWater demandIrrigation waterSmall scale systemsInvestmentFarmer managed irrigation systemsPovertyFarmersGenderWater users’ associations

Crop-Livestock Interactions in Smallholders’ Market Participation: Evidence from Crop-Livestock Mixed Systems in Ethiopia

Most studies on smallholder market participation decisions analyze crop or livestock market participation separately. However, in mixed crop-livestock farming systems, smallholders’ participation decisions in crop and livestock markets may not be separate as a household’s position in one market may be influenced by its position in the other. Where there is limited income from off-farm and/or non-farm activities, household cash requirements for crop production or household consumption are usually met by selling livestock. Similarly, livestock purchase is usually financed by income from crop sales. However, to what extent the position in one market influences the other is still not well explored in the literature. The aim of this paper is to investigate the interactions of crop and livestock output market participation of smallholders, by analyzing the determinants of household market participation positions in both commodities simultaneously. Household level data collected in 2009 from 1075 sample households in ten districts of the four major regions of Ethiopia is used for the analyses. Using simultaneous equation models, we test whether the position of being a net seller in crop market is affected by the position of being a net buyer in the livestock market, and vice versa. Results show that the decision to be a net buyer in crop market is associated positively with the decision to be a net seller in livestock market. Similarly, the decision to be a net seller in crop market is associated positively with the decision to be a net buyer in livestock market. This implies that crop purchase is financed by livestock sale and excess income from crop sale is saved in the form of livestock asset. Thus, policies/strategies enhancing smallholders’ participation in crop and livestock markets in mixed crop-livestock system should pay attention to the production and marketing of both commodities simultaneously.market participation, market position, crop-livestock system, smallholder, Ethiopia, Farm Management,

Community natural resource management: the case of woodlots in northern Ethiopia

This paper examines the nature of community management of woodlots and investigates the determinants of collective action and its effectiveness in managing woodlots, based on a survey of 100 villages in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. We find that collective management of woodlots generally functions well in Tigray. Despite limited current benefits received by community members, the woodlots contribute substantially to community wealth, increasing members' willingness to provide collective effort to manage the woodlots. We find that benefits are greater and problems less on woodlots managed at the village level than those managed at a higher municipality level, and that the average intensity of management is greater on village-managed woodlots. Nevertheless, we find little evidence of differences in collective management of woodlots or its effectiveness on village vs. municipality-managed woodlots, after controlling for other factors. The factors that do significantly affect collective action include population density (higher collective labor input and lower planting density at intermediate than at low or high density), market access (less labor input, planting density and tree survival where market access is better), and presence of external organizations promoting the woodlot (reduces local effort to protect the woodlot and tree survival). The negative effect of market access suggests that higher opportunity costs of labor and/or increased “exit options” undermine collective resource management. The findings suggest collective action may be more beneficial and more effective when managed at a more local level, when the role of external organizations is more demand-driven, and when promoted in intermediate population density communities more remote from markets. In higher population density settings and areas closer to markets, private-oriented approaches are likely to be more effective.resource management, Forest management, Population density, Collective behavior, Ethiopia,