Modeling Smallholder Farmers' Preferences for Soil Management Measures: A Case Study From South Ethiopia

Tarfasa, Solomon; Balana, Bedru; Tefera, Tewodros; Woldeamanuel, Teshale; Moges, Awdenegest; Dinato, Mengistu; Black, H. I. J.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.11.027

Cited by 37 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…However, the widespread adoption of very efficient structures (metal silos) by the farmers in this segment could be stimulated by incentives such as small loans to be paid back through two (02) production campaigns, for example. These results are consistent with those of [62,[72][73][74] These studies show that access to credit has been identified as the main reason justifying the success of the Swiss-funded grain storage project in Honduras. This project has distributed over 22,000 silos to more than 18,500 families with a high recovery rate.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for New Storage Technologies for Maize in Northern and Central Benin

et al. 2018

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The aim of this study is to identify the attributes of storage structures sought by maize producers based on a choice experiment. The experimental processes took place in the maize production areas of northern and central Benin. The sample consisted of 365 maize farmers (80.55% male and 19.45% female) randomly selected from 40 villages. Data were collected and analyzed using a latent class logit model to study the heterogeneous preferences of the key attributes of storage structures. The results show that men and women are eager to change their current practices and to adopt new storage technologies. The study identifies four potential producer segments, including three large-farmer segments that have access to credit and are particularly attracted to structures related to metal silos. Of those three segments, two are also attracted to improved traditional silos. Another segment of poor farmers, who do not have access to credit, prefer to have a very efficient structure (loss rate of less than 5%) that is designed with local materials. This study suggests that knowledge of the heterogeneity of preferences, as well as the preferred attributes, is important for the development and dissemination of better technologies by agribusiness firms, institutions and policymakers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for New Storage Technologies for Maize in Northern and Central Benin

et al. 2018

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“…This approach makes it possible to evaluate farmers' preferences for high-input agriculture supported by SSNM recommendations prior to the development of the NE tool and take into account these preferences in designing, fine-tuning and delivering the tool. CEs first emerged in marketing studies and now cut across several disciplines, including agricultural sciences where CEs are increasingly applied in ex-ante agricultural technology adoption studies (Mahadevan and Asafu-Adjaye, 2015; Lambrecht et al, 2015; Coffie et al, 2016; Kassie et al, 2017; Tarfasa et al, 2018; Dalemans et al, 2018). Theoretically, the CE method is based on Lancaster's economic theory of value (Lancaster, 1966) and random utility theory (McFadden, 1974).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lambrecht et al, 2014; Mponela et al, 2016; Morello et al, 2018) and a growing number of ex-ante studies that use choice experiments to analyze farmers' adoption behavior in the design stage of a technology (e.g. Lambrecht et al, 2015; Mahadevan and Asafu-Adjaye, 2015; Dalemans et al, 2018; Tarfasa et al, 2018). However, none of the available studies focuses on farmers' adoption of site-specific extension recommendations and also farmers' willingness to accept such recommendations from ICT-based extension tools has not been researched (Fu and Akter, 2016; Verma and Sinha, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farmers' preferences for high-input agriculture supported by site-specific extension services: Evidence from a choice experiment in Nigeria

Oyinbo

Chamberlin

Vanlauwe

et al. 2019

Agricultural Systems

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Agricultural extension to improve yields of staple food crops and close the yield gap in Sub-Saharan Africa often entails general recommendations on soil fertility management that are distributed to farmers in a large growing area. Site-specific extension recommendations that are better tailored to the needs of individual farmers and fields, and enabled by digital technologies, could potentially bring about yield and productivity improvements. In this paper, we analyze farmers' preferences for high-input maize production supported by site-specific nutrient management recommendations provided by an ICT-based extension tool that is being developed for extension services in the maize belt of Nigeria. We use a choice experiment to provide ex-ante insights on the adoption potentials of site-specific extension services from the perspective of farmers. We control for attribute non-attendance and account for class as well as scale heterogeneity in preferences using different models, and find robust results. We find that farmers have strong preferences to switch from general to ICT-enabled site-specific soil fertility management recommendations which lend credence to the inclusion of digital technologies in agricultural extension. We find heterogeneity in preferences that is correlated with farmers' resource endowments and access to services. A first group of farmers are strong potential adopters; they are better-off, less sensitive to risk, and are more willing to invest in a high-input maize production system. A second group of farmers are weak potential adopters; they have lower incomes and fewer productive assets, are more sensitive to yield variability, and prefer less capital and labor intensive production techniques. Our empirical findings imply that improving the design of extension tools to enable provision of information on the riskiness of expected outcomes and flexibility in switching between low-risk and high-risk recommendations will help farmers to make better informed decisions, and thereby improve the uptake of extension advice and the efficiency of extension programs.

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“…Asfaw and Neka (2017) also implemented binary Logit to find out the predictors of adoption of SWC measures in Wereillu district, Northern Ethiopia. Other empirical works related to adoption of SWC measures that employed binary choice models (i.e., Logit/Probit) include Moges and Taye 2017 (Tarfasa et al 2018) to analyze farmers' choice of/preference for soil and water management in various developing countries.…”

Section: Data Collection and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing adoption of improved structural soil and water conservation measures in Eastern Ethiopia

Wordofa

Okoyo

Erkalo³

2020

Environ Syst Res

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Background: Agriculture remains to be the leading sector that contributes enormously to economic development in Ethiopia. Despite its significant contribution to livelihoods, the sector faces persistent challenges due to depletion of natural resources and soil erosion that resulted in diminishing crop and livestock productivity. In order to curb the effects of land degradation, the Government of Ethiopia has been taking serious measures to expand Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) practices throughout the country. Despite the efforts made, the adoption of new practices by farmers have been generally low. This study was aimed at assessing factors influencing smallholder farmers' decision on the use of improved structural SWC practices in Haramaya district, eastern Ethiopia. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 120 farm households and 248 plots. A structured interview schedule was used to collect primary data. Descriptive and inferential statistics and Multinomial Logit (MNL) regression model were used to analyze the data. Results: The key findings showed that a host of socio-demographic, economic and institutional factors significantly affected smallholders' decision to adopt improved structural SWC. In this study, we found that education, farming experience, plot area, distance of the plot from dwelling unit, number of economically active household members, and extension contact were the significant predictors of using improved SWC structures. Conclusions: Based on our findings, we concluded that improved SWC measures should be scaled up through a concerted effort of extension workers, local administration and other relevant non-state actors. In particular, the extension system should encourage rural communities on sustainable management and use of natural resources. Moreover, the need to create learning opportunities through facilitating appropriate educational and training programs for farmers and focusing on proper management of available economically active household members should be emphasized.

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Modeling Smallholder Farmers' Preferences for Soil Management Measures: A Case Study From South Ethiopia

Cited by 37 publications

References 27 publications

Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for New Storage Technologies for Maize in Northern and Central Benin

Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for New Storage Technologies for Maize in Northern and Central Benin

Farmers' preferences for high-input agriculture supported by site-specific extension services: Evidence from a choice experiment in Nigeria

Factors influencing adoption of improved structural soil and water conservation measures in Eastern Ethiopia

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