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Improved maize adoption and impacts on farm household welfare: Evidence from rural Ethiopia
Author(s) -
Geffersa Abebayehu Girma,
Agbola Frank W.,
Mahmood Amir
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
australian journal of agricultural and resource economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.683
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-8489
pISSN - 1364-985X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8489.12489
Subject(s) - poverty , welfare , panel data , consumption (sociology) , asset (computer security) , agricultural economics , productivity , economics , agriculture , instrumental variable , fixed effects model , business , socioeconomics , economic growth , geography , econometrics , social science , computer security , archaeology , sociology , computer science , market economy
The use of improved crop varieties can increase agricultural productivity and enhance the welfare of farmers. This study examined whether the adoption of improved maize varieties (IMV) is associated with the increased welfare of farmers in rural Ethiopia. A panel data set with 1886 observations collected in three waves from 2009/10 to 2014/15 were used for the analysis. The adoption decision was modelled using a double‐hurdle model, and the welfare effect of IMV adoption was estimated using a fixed‐effects instrumental variable approach. Our findings reveal that IMV affects the welfare of farmers. Specifically, we found that IMV adoption increases households' income, asset ownership and maize consumption while also reducing income poverty. The poverty estimates indicate that a 10% increase in the area allocated to IMV was associated with a 4.79% reduction in the probability of being below the $1.90 poverty line. However, the poverty‐reducing effect of IMV adoption was heterogeneous across households, with the most pronounced effect experienced by households with extensive landholdings. Our findings suggest that facilitating access to IMV and land under cultivation can effectively improve farmers' welfare and reduce poverty in rural Ethiopia.