Adoption of improved agricultural technology and its impact on household income: a propensity score matching estimation in eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Adoption of improved agricultural technologies remains to be a promising strategy to achieve food security and poverty reduction in many developing countries. However, there are limited rigorous impact evaluations on the contributions of such technologies on household welfare. This paper investigates the impact of improved agricultural technology use on farm household income in eastern Ethiopia. Methods Primary data for the study was obtained from a random sample of 248 rural households, 119 of which are improved technology users and the rest are non-users. The research employed the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) procedure to establish the causal relationship between adoption of improved crop and livestock technologies and changes in farm income. Results Results from the econometric analysis show that households using improved agricultural technologies had, on average, 23,031.28 Birr (Birr is the official currency of Ethiopia. The exchange rate according to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) was 1 USD = 27.6017 Birr on 04 October 2018.) higher annual farm income compared to those households not using such technologies. Our findings highlight the importance of promoting multiple and complementary agricultural technologies among rural smallholders. Conclusions We suggest that rural technology generation, dissemination and adoption interventions be strengthened. Moreover, the linkage among research, extension, universities and farmers needs to be enhanced through facilitating a multistakeholders innovation platforms.

Measuring the poverty reduction effects of adopting agricultural technologies in rural Ethiopia: findings from an endogenous switching regression approach

“…Hence, various studies conducted around the world and in Ethiopia have suggested that agricultural technologies have the capability of reducing poverty in large scale. For example, the adoption of alternative farming technologies has been found to significantly increase yields, increase farm income, increase household consumption, improve nutrition, and generally improves household welfare ( Sebsibie et al., 2015 ; Hagos, 2016 ; Tesfaye et al., 2016 ; Alwang et al., 2017; Belete and Melak, 2018 ; Akinrinola and Adeyemo, 2018 ; Adebayo et al., 2018 ; Ahmed and Anang., 2019 ; Verkaart et al., 2019 ; Natnael, 2019 ; Legesse et al., 2019 ; Tesfay, 2020 ; Biru et al., 2020 ; Teka and Lee, 2020 ; Abewa et al., 2020 ; Ayenew et al., 2020 ; Shita et al., 2020 ; Belay and Mengiste, 2021 ; Habtewold, 2021 ; Wordofa et al., 2021 ).…”

“…(2020) used chemical fertilizers and improved seeds for Ethiopia, Abewa et al. (2020) used the Teff variety for Ethiopia and Wordofa et al. (2021) used improved livestock and crop technologies for Ethiopia.…”

“…Second, many previous studies studied the welfare effect of farm technology adoption using income as a proxy (e.g., Tesfaye et al., 2016 ; Adebayo et al., 2018 ; Ahmed and Anang, 2019 ; Natnael, 2019 ; Shita et al., 2020 ; Wordofa et al., 2021 ). However, previous literature suggests that household expenditure is a more consistent measure than household income ( Rao, 2006 ).…”

Comunicación Horizontal: Identificación de la Demanda Social de Tecnología Agropecuaria en el Altiplano Peruano, Puno

“…Debido al constante requerimiento de alimento para el pastoreo y las características cultivables de la tierra, los productores demandan tecnologías relacionadas a la agricultura como segunda preferencia: maquinaria agrícola y riego tecnificado, que les permitan desarrollar actividades económicas sostenibles y de subsistencia. Junto a las demandas identificadas se expresa que estos productores necesitan de conocimientos tecnológicos para dar eficiencia a su sistema de producción en perspectiva del desarrollo sostenible, opiniones concordantes con los estudios de (Bedoya Justo & Julca Otiniano, 2021;De La Cruz S. & Dessein, 2021;Valarezo et al, 2020;Wordofa et al, 2021).…”

Impact of Adoption of Improved Agricultural Production Technologies on Cereal Crops Productivity and Farmers’ Welfare in Central Ethiopia

“…), organic and inorganic fertilizers are among the main improved agricultural technologies mainly practiced by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. The adoption of either of the abovementioned improved agricultural technologies revealed a positive effect on productivity (6)(7)(8) and farmers' welfare (9)(10)(11) . Also, effective improved agricultural production technologies enhance marketable surplus production by smallholders (12) .…”