Vegetable market supply by small holder farmers in Ethiopia

Abstract

The paper analyzes the determinants of vegetable market participation in Ethiopia. The study procures data from primary and secondary databases. The primary data for this study are collected from vegetable producers through appropriate statistical procedures. Heckman two stages Econometrics model was applied to analyze the collected data. Among factors affecting farmers market participation decision, the first stage Heackman results disclose that district, family size, irrigation access, credit use, extension contact and lagged price are major factors that determine market participation decision of farmers. The second stage Heackman results indicates that sex, family size, irrigation access, land, credit use, extension service and inverse mill’s ratio were the key factors significantly determining how much would be sold into the market. Therefore, policy aiming at increasing farmers’ access to modern irrigation, gender consideration, credit access and improving extension service are recommended to accelerate the vegetable sector development.