Impacts of community teff seed production technology adoption on the productivity and income of smallholder farmers in Northwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

To boost output and household livelihoods, improved crop technology must first be disseminated, which requires seed production and distribution. The government of Ethiopia recognizes three different kinds of community teff seed production systems: formal, intermediate, and informal. The formal and informal seed systems have been the subject of several investigations. There was, however, no empirical data on the impact of the intermediate seed system of communal teff seed production by organized groups of farmers. However, the community must increase the supply and production of better teff seed. Thus, in 2021–2022, the study was carried out in the northwest Ethiopian districts of Enemay and Yilmana Densa. 372 responders and six community teff seed producers were selected at random. Focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and a survey were used to gather both qualitative and quantitative data from primary and secondary sources. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data that was gathered. The impact of community teff seed production technologies on household farm income and productivity was examined using an endogenous switching regression model. Accordingly, the model results demonstrated that education, farm clustering, extension contact, contract farming, and household credit utilization all had a substantial impact on the households' farm income and productivity. In addition, relative to their counterfactuals, the adopters' mean treatment effects increased their teff productivity by 257 kg ha-1 and their average farm income by ETB (Ethiopian Birr) 12,425.31 (1 USD is equal to 124 ETB). Overall, the results demonstrated that community teff seed production improved household welfare and provided teff growers with seeds. To improve farmers' knowledge of field-based seed production and seed distribution systems (Regional-Kebele), the agricultural and seed producer sectors should research the market and value chain of community seed production for teff and other crops.