IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/kucawp/146558.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Economic Impact of a New Rural Extension Approach in Northern Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Egziabher, Kidanemariam G.
  • Mathijs, Erik
  • Deckers, Jozef A.
  • Gebrehiwot, Kindeya
  • Bauer, Hans
  • Maertens, Miet

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the impact of the Integrated Household Extension Program (IHEP) in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. The government of Ethiopia – in contrast to the majority of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa – invests heavily in agricultural extension but very little empirical evidence is available on the impact of public extension services on farm performance and household welfare that could justify these investments. The IHEP program is a particularly interesting case as it is an example for how agricultural extension systems in developing countries changed during the past two decades, from centralized top-down technology-transfer-orientated approaches to decentralized, participatory and more integrated approaches. We empirically assess the impact of participation in the IHEP program on household income, investment and income diversification. We use household survey data from 730 farm-households in the Tigray region and propensity score matching methods to estimate the impact. We find that the extension program had a large positive impact on household welfare – increasing income with about 10 percent – and on investment and income diversification.

Suggested Citation

  • Egziabher, Kidanemariam G. & Mathijs, Erik & Deckers, Jozef A. & Gebrehiwot, Kindeya & Bauer, Hans & Maertens, Miet, 2013. "The Economic Impact of a New Rural Extension Approach in Northern Ethiopia," Working Papers 146558, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:kucawp:146558
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.146558
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/146558/files/BioeconWP_2013_2.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.146558?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefan Dercon & Daniel O. Gilligan & John Hoddinott & Tassew Woldehanna, 2009. "The Impact of Agricultural Extension and Roads on Poverty and Consumption Growth in Fifteen Ethiopian Villages," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1007-1021.
    2. Joshi, P.K. & Gulati, Ashok & Birthal, Pratap S. & Tewari, Laxmi, 2003. "Agriculture diversification in South Asia," MSSD discussion papers 57, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Liane Faltermeier & Awudu Abdulai, 2009. "The impact of water conservation and intensification technologies: empirical evidence for rice farmers in Ghana," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(3), pages 365-379, May.
    4. Gershon Feder & Rinku Murgai & Jaime B. Quizon, 2004. "Sending Farmers Back to School: The Impact of Farmer Field Schools in Indonesia," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 45-62.
    5. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra E. Todd, 1997. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 64(4), pages 605-654.
    6. Imai, Katsushi S. & Arun, Thankom & Annim, Samuel Kobina, 2010. "Microfinance and Household Poverty Reduction: New Evidence from India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 1760-1774, December.
    7. Woldenhanna, T. & Oskam, A., 2001. "Income diversification and entry barriers: evidence from the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 351-365, August.
    8. D'souza, Gerard & Cyphers, Douglas & Phipps, Tim, 1993. "Factors Affecting the Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(2), pages 159-165, October.
    9. Reardon, Thomas, 1997. "Using evidence of household income diversification to inform study of the rural nonfarm labor market in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 735-747, May.
    10. Berhanu Gebremedhin & Moti Jaleta & Dirk Hoekstra, 2009. "Smallholders, institutional services, and commercial transformation in Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(s1), pages 773-787, November.
    11. Minot, Nicholas & Epprecht, Michael & Anh, Tran Thi Tram & Trung, Le Quang, 2006. "Income diversification and poverty in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam:," Research reports 145, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Daniel Solís & Boris E. Bravo‐Ureta & Ricardo E. Quiroga, 2009. "Technical Efficiency among Peasant Farmers Participating in Natural Resource Management Programmes in Central America," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 202-219, February.
    13. Umali-Deininger, Dina, 1997. "Public and Private Agricultural Extension: Partners or Rivals?," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 12(2), pages 203-224, August.
    14. Maertens, Miet & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2009. "Trade, Standards, and Poverty: Evidence from Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 161-178, January.
    15. Jock R. Anderson, 2004. "Agricultural Extension: Good Intentions and Hard Realities," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, vol. 19(1), pages 41-60.
    16. Sascha O. Becker & Marco Caliendo, 2007. "Sensitivity analysis for average treatment effects," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(1), pages 71-83, February.
    17. Anderson, Jock R. & Feder, Gershon, 2007. "Agricultural Extension," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: Robert Evenson & Prabhu Pingali (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 44, pages 2343-2378, Elsevier.
    18. Dercon, Stefan, 1998. "Wealth, risk and activity choice: cattle in Western Tanzania," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 1-42, February.
    19. Johan F. M. Swinnen & Miet Maertens, 2007. "Globalization, privatization, and vertical coordination in food value chains in developing and transition countries," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 37(s1), pages 89-102, December.
    20. Delgado, Christopher L. & Siamwalla, Ammar, 1997. "Rural Economy and Farm Income Diversification in Developing Countries," 1997 Conference, August 10-16, 1997, Sacramento, California 197035, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    21. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    22. Feder, Gershon & Just, Richard E & Zilberman, David, 1985. "Adoption of Agricultural Innovations in Developing Countries: A Survey," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 255-298, January.
    23. Frank Ellis, 1998. "Household strategies and rural livelihood diversification," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 1-38.
    24. Mendola, Mariapia, 2007. "Agricultural technology adoption and poverty reduction: A propensity-score matching analysis for rural Bangladesh," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 372-393, June.
    25. Ariel Dinar, 1996. "Extension Commercialization: How Much to Charge for Extension Services," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 78(1), pages 1-12.
    26. Spielman, David J. & Byerlee, Derek & Alemu, Dawit & Kelemework, Dawit, 2010. "Policies to promote cereal intensification in Ethiopia: The search for appropriate public and private roles," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 185-194, June.
    27. Barrett, C. B. & Reardon, T. & Webb, P., 2001. "Nonfarm income diversification and household livelihood strategies in rural Africa: concepts, dynamics, and policy implications," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 315-331, August.
    28. Benedito Cunguara & Karl Moder, 2011. "Is Agricultural Extension Helping the Poor? Evidence from Rural Mozambique," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), vol. 20(4), pages 562-595, August.
    29. Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Nonparametric Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Under Exogeneity: A Review," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 4-29, February.
    30. Zepeda, Lydia, 1990. "Predicting Bovine Somatotropin Use By California Dairy Farmers," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, July.
    31. Genius, Margarita & Pantzios, Christos J. & Tzouvelekas, Vangelis, 2006. "Information Acquisition and Adoption of Organic Farming Practices," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 31(1), pages 1-21, April.
    32. D'Souza, Gerard E. & Cyphers, Douglas & Phipps, Tim T., 1993. "Factors Affecting The Adoption Of Sustainable Agricultural Practices," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 22(2), pages 1-7, October.
    33. Binam, Joachim Nyemeck & Tonye, Jean & wandji, Njankoua & Nyambi, Gwendoline & Akoa, Mireille, 2004. "Factors affecting the technical efficiency among smallholder farmers in the slash and burn agriculture zone of Cameroon," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 531-545, October.
    34. Samuel Benin & Ephraim Nkonya & Geresom Okecho & Joseé Randriamamonjy & Edward Kato & Geofrey Lubade & Miriam Kyotalimye, 2011. "Returns to spending on agricultural extension: the case of the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) program of Uganda," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 42(2), pages 249-267, March.
    35. Sascha O. Becker & Andrea Ichino, 2002. "Estimation of average treatment effects based on propensity scores," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 2(4), pages 358-377, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anne M. Cafer & J. Sanford Rikoon, 2018. "Adoption of new technologies by smallholder farmers: the contributions of extension, research institutes, cooperatives, and access to cash for improving tef production in Ethiopia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(3), pages 685-699, September.
    2. Yemane Asmelash Gebremariam & Joost Dessein & Beneberu Assefa Wondimagegnhu & Mark Breusers & Lutgart Lenaerts & Enyew Adgo & Zemen Ayalew & Amare Sewenet Minale & Jan Nyssen, 2021. "Determinants of Farmers’ Level of Interaction with Agricultural Extension Agencies in Northwest Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-24, March.
    3. Wole kinati, 2018. "The Impact of Agricultural Improvement Intervention Through Market Development on the Livelihoods of Rural Farmers in Ethiopia: A Propensity Score Matching Application," International Journal of Sciences, Office ijSciences, vol. 7(02), pages 1-10, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abebaw, Degnet & Haile, Mekbib G., 2013. "The impact of cooperatives on agricultural technology adoption: Empirical evidence from Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 82-91.
    2. Baiyegunhi, L.J.S. & Majokweni, Z.P. & Ferrer, S.R.D., 2019. "Impact of outsourced agricultural extension program on smallholder farmers’ net farm income in Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-7.
    3. Miet Maertens & Liesbeth Colen & Johan F. M. Swinnen, 2011. "Globalisation and poverty in Senegal: a worst case scenario?," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 31-54, March.
    4. Khundi, Fydess & Jagger, Pamela & Shively, Gerald & Sserunkuuma, Dick, 2011. "Income, poverty and charcoal production in Uganda," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 199-205, March.
    5. Islam, Abu Hayat, 2015. "Can Integrated Rice-Fish System Increase Welfare of the Marginalized Extreme Poor in Bangladesh? A DID Matching Approach," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211792, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Anne M. Cafer & J. Sanford Rikoon, 2018. "Adoption of new technologies by smallholder farmers: the contributions of extension, research institutes, cooperatives, and access to cash for improving tef production in Ethiopia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(3), pages 685-699, September.
    7. repec:ags:bdbjaf:279932 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Deschamps-Laporte, Jean-Philippe, 2013. "The impact of extension services on farming households in Western Kenya: A propensity score approach," Working Papers 2013:5, Örebro University, School of Business, revised 10 Jun 2013.
    9. Olale, Edward & Henson, Spencer, 2013. "The impact of income diversification among fishing communities in Western Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 90-99.
    10. Ashimwe, Olive, 2016. "An Economic Analysis Of Impact Of Weather Index-Based Crop Insurance On Household Income In Huye District Of Rwanda," Research Theses 265675, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    11. Tommaso Nannicini, 2007. "Simulation-based sensitivity analysis for matching estimators," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(3), pages 334-350, September.
    12. Ashok K. Mishra & Anjani Kumar & Pramod K. Joshi & Alwin D'Souza, 2018. "Cooperatives, contract farming, and farm size: The case of tomato producers in Nepal," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 865-886, October.
    13. Kamiche Zegarra, J. & Bravo-Ureta, B., 2018. "Are users of market information efficient? A stochastic production frontier model corrected by sample selection," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275870, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Riithi, Alexander Njuguna & Irungu, Patrick & Munei , Kimpei, 2015. "Determinants Of Choice Of Alternative Livelihood Diversification Strategies In Solio Resettlement Scheme, Kenya," Dissertations and Theses 269714, University of Nairobi, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    15. Paudel, G. & Krishna, V. & McDonald, A., 2018. "Why some inferior technologies succeed? Examining the diffusion and impacts of rotavator tillage in Nepal Terai," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277149, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Owusu, Victor & Abdulai, Awudu & Abdul-Rahman, Seini, 2011. "Non-farm work and food security among farm households in Northern Ghana," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 108-118, April.
    17. Liane Faltermeier & Awudu Abdulai, 2009. "The impact of water conservation and intensification technologies: empirical evidence for rice farmers in Ghana," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(3), pages 365-379, May.
    18. Githiomi, Caroline & Muriithi, Beatrice & Irungu, Patrick & Mwungu, Chris M. & Diiro, Gracious & Affognon, Hippolyte & Mburu, John & Ekesi, Sunday, 2019. "Economic analysis of spillover effects of an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy for suppression of mango fruit fly in Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 121-132.
    19. Koirala, Krishna H. & Mishra, Ashok K. & Mehlhorn, Joey, 2014. "Using Copula to Test Dependency between Energy and Agricultural Commodities," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170364, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Wendimu, Mengistu Assefa & Henningsen, Arne & Gibbon, Peter, 2016. "Sugarcane Outgrowers in Ethiopia: “Forced” to Remain Poor?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 84-97.
    21. Justus, Ochieng & Knerr, Beatrice & Owuor, George & Ouma, Emily, 2015. "Agricultural commercialization and household food security: The case of smallholders in Great Lakes Region of Central Africa," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212588, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:kucawp:146558. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/alkulbe.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.