Assessment of challenges of crop production and marketing in Bench-Sheko, Kaffa, Sheka, and West-Omo zones of southwest Ethiopia

Tadesse, Benyam; Tilahun, Yaregal; Bekele, Tamrat; Mekonen, Getachew

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07319

Cited by 28 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The result has shown that about 28.10% of sampled household heads struggled with biotic factors which reduce tomato production. The result is similar to the findings of [15,34] who stated that more than 60% of the productivity of developing countries was lost due to biotic and abiotic factors.…”

Section: B Effect Of Socio-economics and Farm Tomato Productionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Factors Affecting Tomato Productivity in Western Oromia, Ethiopia: Evidence from Smallholder Farmers

2022

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Tomato is one of the most important fruit vegetable crops in Ethiopia supporting the livelihood and improving the economic life of many farmers. However, the productivity of the crop is low due to poor production management practices, limitations in the availability of pesticides and fungicides, limitations to access information, market fluctuation, and shelf life of the crop. The study was undertaken in western Oromia to understand major factors affecting the tomato productivity of smallholder farmers. It was based on the cross-sectional data collected from 135 randomly selected farmers during the 2019/20 cropping season. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and an econometric model. The result depicted that the productivity of tomatoes was significantly affected by inputs like labor, oxen power, fertilizer, and pesticides. From the OLS result, gender, education, family size, off/non-farm activities, farm experience, livestock holding, extension access, credit access, and market/traders information positively affected tomato productivity, while age and field distance was affected negatively. The variety and biotic factors affected the tomato productivity of smallholder farmers positively and negatively, respectively. The findings will be helpful for tomato producers, private companies, and other sectors that participated in crop production by solving the above important variables.

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Section: B Effect Of Socio-economics and Farm Tomato Productionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Factors Affecting Tomato Productivity in Western Oromia, Ethiopia: Evidence from Smallholder Farmers

2022

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“…However, large families require more significant amounts of food for sustenance, and the risk of food insecurity increases in subsistence farming where crop productivity is generally low. Tadele [52] noted that large families have an adverse impact on food security, especially in Africa, where the population growth rate is very high.…”

Section: Discussion 41 Demographic Attributesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finger Millet Production in Ethiopia: Opportunities, Problem Diagnosis, Key Challenges and Recommendations for Breeding

et al. 2021

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Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn) is a highly nutritious crop, predominantly grown in the semi-arid tropics of the world. Finger millet has a niche market opportunity due to its human health benefits and being rich in calcium, iron and dietary fiber and gluten-free. Ethiopia is the center of the genetic diversity of the crop. However, the productivity of finger millet in the country is low (<2.4 tons ha−1) compared with its potential yield (6 tons ha−1). The yield gap in Ethiopia is due to a range of biotic and abiotic stresses and socio-economic constraints that are yet to be systemically documented and prioritized to guide future production and improved variety development and release. The objective of this study was to document finger millet production opportunities, constraints and farmer-preferred traits in Ethiopia as a guide to variety design in improvement programs. A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) study was undertaken in six selected districts of the Southern Nation Nationalities People Region (SNNPR) and Oromia Region in Ethiopia. Data were collected from 240 and 180 participant farmers through a semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussion, respectively. Finger millet was the most important crop in the study areas grown mainly for a combination of uses, including for food, feed and cash (reported by 38.8% of respondent farmers), food and feed (14.5%), food and cash (13.7%), food (11.5%) and food, cash, feed and construction material (9.7%). Hand weeding was used by 59.2% of the respondent farmers, followed by hand weeding and chemical herbicides (40.8%). Finger millet was mainly planted as a sole crop (reported by 97.0% respondents), mixed (1.7%) and sole and mixed (1.3%). About 75.6% of respondent farmers only practiced finger millet rotation with other crops. Respondent farmers indicated their source of fresh seed was from the Bureau of Agriculture (49.1%), farmer-to-farmer seed exchange (22.1%), own saved seed (7.5%), local producers (7.5%), research institutions (5.8%), unknown sources (4.1%), local market (3.5%) and cooperatives (0.42%). The total cost of finger millet production per hectare was calculated at 1249 USD with a total income of 2139 USD/ha, making a benefit to cost ratio of 1.71:1.00 and indicating the relatively low yield gains using the currently grown varieties. The main constraints to finger millet production in the study areas were drought stress (reported by 41.3% respondents), lack of improved varieties (12.9%), lack of financial resources (11.3%), small land holdings (10.8%), limited access to seed (10.0%), a shortage of fertilizers (5.4%), poor soil fertility (4.6%), shortage of draught power (1.3%), labour shortages (1.3%) and high labour costs (1.3%). The most important farmer-preferred traits in a finger millet variety were high grain yield, compact head shape, ‘enjera’-making quality, high marketability and early maturity, resolved through principal component analysis. The above-mentioned production constraints and farmer-preferred traits are strategic drivers to enhance finger millet productivity and need to be incorporated into Ethiopia’s finger millet breeding and technology development.

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“…Its carbohydrates richness, availability throughout the year, tolerance to low soil fertility, and resistance to drought, pests, and diseases (Mathende, 2006;Nassar, 2007;Fermont et al, 2008;van Fermont, 2009;Poole, 2010;McQuate, 2011;El-Sharkawy, 2012;Ogunniyi et al, 2012;Tadesse et al, 2017;Ewubare and Ologhadien, 2019;Inegbedion et al, 2020) make cassava an attractive crop, especially to smallholder farmers, who account for the largest share of the country's agricultural production. However, these farmers hardly use modern technology and inputs and hence their cassava productivity is low [Kebede et al, 2012;Laekemariam, 2016;Mustefa et al, 2017;Tadesse et al, 2021] despite significant market opportunities in Ethiopia [Biruk, 2013;Tadesse et al, 2013;Dada, 2016;Offa District Agricultural and Natural Resource Development Office (ODANRDO), 2018;Graffham et al, 2019]. Furthermore, empirical research on cassava economic efficiency (EE) in this specific region that will assist in identifying concrete improvement levers is scarce.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cassava Production Efficiency in Southern Ethiopia: The Parametric Model Analysis

Tafesse¹,

Mena²,

Belay³

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Due to capital constraints and land scarcity in developing countries, introducing new technology to boost productivity is difficult. As a result, working to improve cassava production efficiency is the best option available. Cassava is increasingly being used as a food source as well as an industrial raw material in the production of economic goods. This study estimates cassava production efficiency and investigates the causes of inefficiency in southern Ethiopia. Cross-sectional data from 158 households were collected using a systematic questionnaire. The Cobb-Douglas (CDs) stochastic frontier production model was used to calculate production efficiency levels. The computed mean result showed technical efficiency (TE), allocative efficiency (AE), and economic efficiency (EE) levels of 74, 90, and 66%, respectively. This demonstrated that existing farm resources could increase average production efficiency by 26, 10, and 34%, respectively. The study found that land size, urea fertilizer application, and cassava planting cut all had a positive and significant effect on cassava production. It was discovered that TE was more important than AE as a source of benefit for EE. Inefficiency effects modeled using the two-limit Tobit model revealed that household head age, level of education, cassava variety, extension contact, rural credit, off-farm activities involvement to generate income, and farm size were the most important factors for improving TE, AE, and EE efficiencies. As a result, policymakers in government should consider these factors when addressing inefficiencies in cassava production. It is especially important to provide appropriate agricultural knowledge through short-term training, to provide farmers with access to formal education, to access improved cassava varieties, and to support agricultural extension services.

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Assessment of challenges of crop production and marketing in Bench-Sheko, Kaffa, Sheka, and West-Omo zones of southwest Ethiopia

Cited by 28 publications

References 28 publications

Factors Affecting Tomato Productivity in Western Oromia, Ethiopia: Evidence from Smallholder Farmers

Factors Affecting Tomato Productivity in Western Oromia, Ethiopia: Evidence from Smallholder Farmers

Finger Millet Production in Ethiopia: Opportunities, Problem Diagnosis, Key Challenges and Recommendations for Breeding

Cassava Production Efficiency in Southern Ethiopia: The Parametric Model Analysis

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