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,

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,

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,

INVESTMENT IN SOIL CONSERVATION IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIA: THE ROLE OF LAND TENURE SECURITY AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Soil erosion seriously threatens the future agricultural productivity of Ethiopia's highlands. In analyzing the determinants of soil conservation investments there, this study goes beyond the conventional physical factors to examine institutional, social capital and public program effects. The double hurdle statistical analysis from 250 farms in the Tigray region reveals different causal factors for soil conservation adoption versus intensity of use. The determinants of adoption of soil conservation measures vary sharply between stone terraces and soil bunds. Physical propensity toward erosion (e.g., slope, slope shape and soil texture) and land suitability for conservation helped determine conservation investments in all cases. But institutional and social determinants of investment differed importantly between bunds and terraces. Long-term investments in stone terraces were associated with secure land tenure, labor availability, proximity to the farmstead, and learning opportunities via the availability of food-for-work projects. By contrast, short-term investments in soil bunds were strongly linked to insecure land tenure and the absence of food-for-work projects. Farm beneficiaries of public soil conservation programs were less likely to invest privately in either type of conservation practice. Social capital, as measured by farmer perception of community pressure to curb soil erosion, did not contribute significantly to either kind of conservation investment. The intensity of stone terrace adoption (measured as meters of terrace per hectare) was determined by expected returns but not by capacity to invest. Higher intensity of stone terrace construction was favored by fertile-but-erodible silty soils in (rainy) highland settings that offered valuable yield benefits from soil conservation. Intensity of terracing was also greater in remote villages where limited off-farm employment opportunities made construction costs relatively low. Previous research has highlighted the need for public policy interventions to supplement private incentives to make soil conservation investments in erosion-prone mountain areas. Our results highlight the importance of the right kind of public interventions. Direct public involvement in constructing soil conservation structures on private lands appears to undermine incentives for private conservation investments. When done on public lands, however, public conservation activities may encourage private soil conservation by example. Secure land tenure rights clearly reinforce private incentives to make long-term investments in soil conservation.Land Economics/Use,

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE LAND MANAGEMENT, CROP PRODUCTION, AND HOUSEHOLD INCOME IN THE HIGHLANDS OF TIGRAY, NORTHERN ETHIOPIA

This paper investigates strategies to improve land management, crop production and household income in the northern Ethiopian highlands based upon econometric analysis of household and plot level survey data collected from 500 households. We find that several profitable opportunities exist to improve land management, agricultural production and incomes.International Development,

SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF PRIVATE AND COMMUNAL LANDS IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIA

Land degradation in sub-Saharan Africa reduces the land's potential productivity through soil erosion, nutrient depletion, soil moisture stress, deforestation and overgrazing. Efforts to reverse land degradation require an understanding of why it takes place and what factors govern farmers' willingness to invest in land conservation. These factors differ importantly between private and public lands. This study synthesizes results from analyses of the technological and institutional factors determining the adoption of natural resource conservation at both the household and the community levels in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray. Using 1995-96 data from 250 Tigray farm household interviews, it first examines private land management, focusing on 1) What factors determine farmer perceptions of the severity and yield impact of soil erosion? 2) Is soil conservation profitable, and if so, then under what conditions? 3) What determines farmers' illingness to invest in soil conservation? Using 1998-99 data from a survey of 100 Tigray villages, it proceeds to examine the management of communal lands (grazing lands and woodlots), focusing on 4) What makes communities engage in collective NRM activities? 5) What determines the ffectiveness of collective NRM? At the household level, results highlight the importance of (1) the physical characteristics of plots and villages in shaping farmer perceptions, (2) the land tenure horizon and access to capital in determining willingness to invest in soil conservation. At the community level, they highlight the importance of population density, agricultural potential, as well as access to markets and external rganizations in determining community collective action and its effectiveness in establishing and managing protected grazing areas and woodlots.Land Economics/Use,

RECONCILING FOOD-FOR-WORK OBJECTIVES: RESOURCE CONSERVATION VS. FOOD AID TARGETING IN TIGRAY, ETHIOPIA

Food-for-work (FFW) projects face the challenge of addressing three kinds of objectives: to feed hungry people, to build public works where needed, and to be feasible for prompt project implementation. In the debate over how to target FFW to the poorest of the poor, the last two program objectives are often overlooked. This research examines FFW afforestation and erosion-control programs in central Tigray, Ethiopia, during 1992-95 in order to examine how these sometimes conflicting objectives were reconciled. The study decomposes the factors determining a household's FFW participation into three decision stages. First, at the regional level, project planners choose where to locate a FFW resource conservation project. Second, at the village level, a committee decides which villagers will be eligible to participate. Finally, the eligible households may decide whether and how much to participate. Using probit and truncated regression methods, the study finds that project implementation feasibility most influenced the probability that FFW projects would be available in the 25 villages surveyed. Among the 129 households in villages with FFW available, FFW eligibility was inversely related to household land area per capita and household size, results which are consistent with anti-poverty targeting. However, the model performed poorly at predicting non-eligibility for FFW, which suggests that anti-poverty targeting was not efficient. Among households eligible for FFW, those with greater resources (larger families that did not lease out land) tended to participate and supply more days of FFW labor than poorer households. The only households eligible for FFW which did not participate were unable (rather than unwilling) to do so, being comprised mostly of elderly women. Overall, anti-poverty targeting was sub-optimal but reasonable, given the feasibility constraint that these resource conservation projects to be sited in where labor and materials could be made available.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,