Determinants of adopting improved bread wheat varieties in Arsi Highland, Oromia Region, Ethiopia: A Double-Hurdle Approach

Abstract

The improvement of agricultural productivity using technology is an important avenue for increasing output and reducing poverty in sub-Saharan countries. However, the low adoption of high yield varieties has been identified as one of the main reasons for low productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, the study examined the effect of demographic, socioeconomic and institutional factors affecting adoption and adoption-intensity of improved wheat varieties (IWVs), using data obtained from randomly selected farm households in the Arsi Highland of Ethiopia. We estimated a Double hurdle model to analyze the determinants of the intensity of IWVs adoption, as adoption and use intensity were two independent decisions influenced by different factors. The results also show that Double hurdle model is more appropriate than the Tobit model. Empirical estimates of the first hurdle reveal that wheat farming experience, distance to cooperatives, renting a tractor and combine harvester, Urea application, and net income from the wheat grain sale all significantly increased the likelihood of IWVs adoption. Estimates of the second hurdle revealed that the decision to use the optimal intensity of IWVs by smallholder farmers was influenced by seed availability, row planting, and distance to cooperative all significantly and positively. The intensity of adoption was also found to be negatively related to the proportion of farmland allotted for wheat production. Accordingly, policies and interventions that are informed about such factors are required to accelerate the adoption and adoption-intensity of IWVs in Ethiopia to realize a wheat Green Revolution and fight food insecurity in a sustainable manner.

Keywords:

• Adoption
• improved wheat varieties
• tobit model
• double hurdle model
• Ethiopia

Public Interest Statement

Over the last decades, International Agricultural Research Centers have been collaborating with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research in the development and dissemination of improved bread wheat varieties for cultivation by farmers in Ethiopia. However, unlike many Green Revolution-type systems whose success have been manifested in the widespread adoption of high yield varieties across millions of hectares, the adoption of improved varieties has not been fully embraced by the smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. Hence, the study aims at the investigation of the determinants of adoption and adoption intensity of improved wheat varieties in Arsi Highland of Ethiopia. Empirical findings confirm that access to improved varieties, access to farm machinery, row planting, Urea application, and net income from wheat grain significantly influence the adoption and the adoption intensity of improved varieties. Cognizant policy interventions that are informed about such factors are required to accelerate adoption and adoption-intensity of improved wheat varieties in Ethiopia, to realize a Green Revolution.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the funding support of Arsi University, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science under its grant for Research and Community Service. The authors recognize the constructive comments of participants of the Ethiopian Economic Association Conference 2018. The authors also thank two anonymous referees for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. For instance, in Japan in the last decades of the 19^th century, early industrialization was financed by land tax, accounting over 80% of fiscal revenues at the time (Ghatak & Ingersent, 1984).

2. Government policies that increase wheat consumption in sub-Saharan Africa probably is keeping wheat price low relative to the price of domestically produced stable crops (ibid).

3. We thank an anonymous reviewer for this useful suggestion.

4. Household refers to agricultural HH when at least one member of the HH is engaged in growing crops and/or livestock in private or in combination with others.

5. Kebele refers to the smallest administrative unit in Ethiopia.

6. We thank an anonymous reviewer for this useful suggestion.

7. The results of the Heckman’s two-step approach estimations are not reported but are available (see Appendix Table A2) to see if sample selection bias is an issue based on the inverse Mills ratio ($\lambda$).

8. Intensity of adoption is the share of farmland utilizing the technology (Feder & Umali, 1993).

9. Latent variable occur when farmers decide to adopt but are prevented from doing so because of various circumstances.

10. Ethiopian birr(ETB); ETB 21.56=US$ 1 at the time of the survey and it highly varies, 2014/15.

11. Though, that poor smallholders soon found themselves sitting on goldmines after the Green Revolution took off. Hence, the poorest residents of rural areas smallholders such as landless, semi-landless and extremely land-poor- might have been ignored by the Indian Green Revolution (Patel, 2013). However, the East Asian Green Revolution has tended to reduce poverty, and achieved growth-with-equity which has inspired so many-poverty architects (Mosley, 2002).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Bedilu Demissie Zeleke

Bedilu Demissie Zeleke is a lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Arsi University, Ethiopia. Bedilu is currently a PhD candidate with the Discipline of Agricultural Economics.

Adem K. Geleto

Adem Kedir Geleto is an associate professor of agricultural economics and vice president for research and community service at Arsi University. Prior to joining Arsi University, he worked at Haramaya University, Ethiopia.

Hussien H. Komicha

Hussien H. Komicha is a PhD in Economics at the Department of Economics, University of Winnipeg, Canada with an extensive academic experience and research skills. Prior to joining the University of Winnipeg, he worked at Haramaya University and Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

Sisay Asefa

Sisay Asefa is a professor of economics and director of the Center for African Development Policy Research at western Michigan University. He has been a visiting scholar at Michigan State University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Pretoria, Addis Ababa University and Oxford University.