1. Impact of Enset Participation in Value Chain on Smallholder Household Food Security and Income in Southwestern Ethiopia
- Author
-
Toyiba Shafi, Haji , Jema, Lemma Zemedu, Abule Mehare, Toyiba Shafi, Haji , Jema, Lemma Zemedu, and Abule Mehare
- Abstract
Growing demand for enset means that rural smallholder farmers have excellent potential to respond on the supply side, particularly in Southern Ethiopia. Evidence is required to determine whether or not smallholder farmers participate in these new market opportunities and whether they gain anything from doing so. This study examines the effects of smallholder farmers' involvement in the Enset participation in value chain on food security and income (as determined by crop income and daily caloric intake in the Gedeo zone of Southern Ethiopia). The investigation analyzed cross-sectional data from 380 randomly chosen smallholder farmers. Impact evaluation employed the Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR) model, which takes selection bias into account. Results from the ESR demonstrate how market, institutional, socioeconomic, and demographic factors influence the decision to participate as well as the food security and income of farm households. Overall, Enset market involvement has a favorable and considerable effect on the food security and income of rural farmers, with a significant difference between groups. The improvement of household food security and income depends on policies that lower the transaction costs of accessing markets, promote trees through various media, work to build the capacity of rural institutions, encourage and support Enset associations, design appropriate support from various stakeholders, encourage market linkages among various market players, and give farmers the opportunity to enroll in basic education.
- Published
- 2023