INTRODUCTION
In sub-Saharan African countries, agriculture is the source of economic growth, and well-
developed poverty reduction strategies aim to strengthen market-led agricultural development to
stimulate economic growth (Sheleme, 2019). These countries have abundant agricultural
resources and diverse ecological zones. Their economies are dependent on agriculture to a large
extent. Over 85% of their populations live in rural areas where crop production and animal
husbandry are main livelihood activities. These sectors contribute about 35.8% of GDP and 70%
of foreign exchange earnings. Agriculture also provides 72.7% of the population with paid
employment opportunities (CIA, 2018; World Bank, 2015; NPC, 2016).
Like in other sub-Saharan African countries, in Ethiopia, the agricultural sector contributes about
37 percent of GDP, 37.2% of export earnings and about 73 percent of the total employment
(UNDP, 2018). About 95% of the total arable land in Ethiopia is cultivated by smallholder
farmers which provide more than 90% of the total agricultural output (Debebe, 2018). Among
this crop production shares 72% of the country’s gross national product, 20% from livestock, and
8.6% from others. About 10% of the total land area is cultivated by large commercial farms
while 90% of the total cultivated land is accounted for by smallholder farms. This indicates the
significance of the sector for the employment and food security of rural people and the country at
large. However, the sector is characterized by low productivity, backward farming technologies,
low farming capacity, and subsistence farming (WFP and CSA, 2020).
In the literature different researchers assert that such smallholder farming could not secure
sustainable livelihood in the long run (Pingali, 1997; Berhanu and Moti, 2010; Abafita et al.,
2016). Instead, commercialization of smallholder farming is supposed to be an important
pathway to reduce poverty and enhance development of the nation. It would increase income and
purchasing power, as well as reduces smallholders’ vulnerability to food insecurity (Afework
and Endrias, 2016).
Even though smallholders farming are responsible for a large proportion of Ethiopian food
production (Zerssa et al., 2021), about 60% of farmers cultivate less than 0.90 ha of very
fragmented landscapes (Rapsomanikis, 2015; Headey et al., 2014; Gebre-Selassie and Bekele,
2012). This is the reason that majority of farm households in Ethiopia are still practicing the
subsistence farming system. Therefore it requires a transformation of agricultural production
from subsistence to a market-oriented farming system by linking farmers to the market through
commercialization to improve household income while reducing destitution level among
smallholder farmers (Tufa et al., 2014).
Cognizant of this, the government of Ethiopia has promoted smallholder commercialization as a
key policy issue since 2005 in order to bring a dynamic change. It opts to transform subsistence
agriculture to commercialized agriculture by introducing improved agricultural technologies and
farm implements which supports intensification of marketable farm products, and specialization
towards more tradable crops (Sharp et al., 2007; Gutu, 2017). Based on this, Agricultural
Commercialization Clusters (ACCs) were formed and implemented in different parts of the
country with the prime role of Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) in which
specialization, diversification and commercialization of smallholder farming were given much
attention (Pauw, 2017). Even if efforts has been in progress acceleration of the market
participation and the degrees of commercialization, as most token, not yet satisfactorily achieved
(NPC, 2016).
Studies indicate that the main factors for this include population growth, low access to
appropriate technologies, lack of strong institutions, high risks, low market integration, high
transaction costs, and low asset holdings (Berhanu and Moti, 2010; Abafita et al., 2016; Afework
and Endrias, 2016; Alelign et al., 2017; Addisu, 2018; Getahun, 2018). There are several studies
conduct in Ethiopia on the different commodities by different researchers. For instant (Abafita et
al., 2016; Abadi, 2014; Getahun, 2020; Hailu et al., 2015; Agerie, et al., 2017), they identified
the factors affecting the commercialization of the crops and their participations and linked them
to demographic, socio-economic and institutional factors. These determinants include the age of
the household respondent, gender, level of education, household size, group membership, farm
size, extension service, credit access, market distance, livestock ownership and access to
irrigation.
Previous empirical studies on commercialization have characterized farmer decision to
commercialize as a two-step decision-making process. The first step is conceived as involving
farmers’ decision to participate in the market or not. In the second step, farmers’ who choose to
participate in the market must decide on the volume of the commodity to sell. The empirical
estimation of the two-step decisions usually involves fitting a double hurdle model. Most of the
empirical studies (Mathenge et al., 2010; Woldeyohanes et al., 2016; Camara, 2017; Martha et
al., 2021) have applied a double hurdle model to separate farmers who participate in the market
from those do not, in the first step. The first hurdle involves the estimation of a probit model.
The second step involves the estimation of a truncated or censored tobit regression for the
quantities of produce sold in the market. This implies that double hurdle regression model is the
appropriate model for estimating two-step models when the targeted group of farmers who are all
producers (Burke et al., 2015). Therefore, following Burke et al. (2015) approach, this study
adopted a double hurdle model in estimating factors influencing intensity of cassava
commercialization among smallholder farmers in study area. This is because the study targets
only a group of farmers who are cassava producers.
Many smallholder farmers in Ethiopia grow a variety of root and tuber crops due to the country’s
diversified agro ecologies and favorable conditions (Biruk and Tewodros, 2012). In Ethiopia,
Cassava has great adaptation and growth performance in a variety of agro ecologies with varying
productivity (Tadesse et al.,2013). It is an important food crop in Southern Ethiopia
particularly in the study area, providing a significant amount of the family’s daily meals
and serving as a key source of carbohydrates. Currently, farmers are growing cassava as a
food security crop and a significant source of household income. Despite this production
potential and importance of cassava for assuring food security status of the
country as well as the study area, Root crops such it have been ignored by
policymakers and researchers in the country, due to the perception of it being a
famine reserve backyard crop of the poor and less emphasis is given to
commercializing the cassava crop as compared to cereal crops. This might be due
to lack of awareness about the importance of producing cereals at the
commercial level and different socio-economic, institutional, and political factors
which constrain the sector. Following this, to know the strong potentials and favorable
impacts of Cassava commercialization on productivity, poverty reduction and food and nutrition
security;identifying the extent a given farm household is commercialization,
consumption versus market decisions, and factors influencing level of commercialization
of cassava produced are indispensable. But, these have not been systematically studied and
documented in the study area. Hence, the present study is initiated to fill the knowledge gap by
identifying the extent of commercialization, consumption versus market decisions,
and factors influencing level of cassava commercialization, which is required in designing
appropriate policy to ensure smallholders and the rural poor benefit from the process of
commercialization.
Objectives:
General objective:
To assess factors influencing the level of cassava commercialization among smallholder farmers:
the case of Ofa woreda, Wolaita zone, Southern Ethopia
The specific objectives:
1. To estimate farmers degree of Cassava commercialization in the study area;
2. To identify the determinants of farmers’ decisions to commercialize Cassava; and
3. To identify the determinants of farmers’ level of Cassava commercialization in the study area
