Impact of Improved Coffee Variety Adoption on Coffee Productivity of Smallholder Farmers in North Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Coffee in Ethiopia is used as main exported commodity and source of foreign currency. Despite its importance, Ethiopia coffee production system characterized as traditional, poor disseminating and little is known about its impact on coffee productivity. Therefore, this paper aim to investigate the determinant of improved coffee varieties as well its impact on coffee productivity of smallholder farmers in north western Ethiopia. Total 114 sample households (34 Improved and 80 local coffee producers) were taken through random and systematic sampling method. Descriptive and propensity score matching methods were employed to analyze the data. The result of descriptive statistics revealed that Adopters of improved coffee varieties were allocated large land for coffee, taken training on coffee variety, construct different soil and water conservation methods, access to financial service and more educated than non-adopters. The result of logit regression showed that household sex and land allocated for coffee production was the main factors determined the improved coffee varieties adoption. The PSM result revealed that improved coffee variety adoption showed statistically significance and positive effect on improving coffee productivity of adopters over the non-adopters and brought 64.20% of increment on their coffee production. This research suggests that improved coffee variety adoption is a means of coffee productivity increment and securing economic welfare of smallholder farmers. Therefore, governmental authorities and NGO should be focused on the expanding and disseminating of these improved coffee varieties over the coffee pro agro-ecologies of the country.

Keywords: Coffee, Adoption, Impact, Improved coffee variety, Annual income, Logit, PSM

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/14-7-03

Publication date: April 30^th 2023