Determinants of Income from Moringa Tree based Agroforestry Practice in Konso, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Agroforestry is praised for its benefit in balancing economic and environmental goals although its income differs from house hold to house hold. This study was carried out to examine determinants of income from Moringa tree based agroforestry practice. The study employed focus group discussion, key informants interview, and household survey for data collection.  The data obtained via these techniques were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and econometric analysis. The result of econometric analysis indicates that six variables (farm size, family size, access to extension service, number of livestock kept, experience of farmers and species diversity) are positively and significantly related to the income earned from moringa tree based agroforestry practice.  Therefore, it is recommended that the government and other responsible bodies should give due attention on accessing extension service; managing lands which farmers have because of the land can’t be stretched; encouraging the household heads who have better farm experience to make use Moringa Tree Based Agroforestry Practice; enabling the households hold higher quality and quantity livestock; and increasing environmentally friendly farm tree species owned by farmers.

Keywords: Smallholders, livelihood, benefits, sensitivity analysis, and cost benefit analysis