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Welfare Effects of Vegetable Commercialization: Evidence from Smallholder Producers in Kenya

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  • Muriithi, Beatrice
  • Matz, Julia Anna

Abstract

We investigate the impact of smallholder vegetable commercialization through the export and domestic market channels on household income and assets in Kenya. We use a survey panel dataset, which allows us to control for unobserved heterogeneity across households, and show that the commercialization of vegetables through both market channels contributes positively to welfare, even when addressing the issue of selection into commercialization. While the production of vegetables for the export market is consistently associated with income in a positive way, the results for asset holdings as the measure of household welfare are weaker and supportive only for the domestic market channel, which weakens the notion of smallholder commercialization being a “pro-poor” strategy.

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  • Muriithi, Beatrice & Matz, Julia Anna, 2014. "Welfare Effects of Vegetable Commercialization: Evidence from Smallholder Producers in Kenya," Discussion Papers 166029, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:ubzefd:166029
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.166029
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    Keywords

    Agribusiness; Environmental Economics and Policy; International Relations/Trade; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade

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