Adoption of Korra tef (Eragrostis tef) and its impact on farm households welfare: A propensity score matching estimation in North-Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract This study examined the impact of the adoption of Korra tef (Eragrostis tef) on farm households’ welfare in Ethiopia. It was conducted with 479 farmers during the 2020 cropping season. 221 of them were Korra adopters and the remaining were non-adopters who adopted other alternative tef varieties like Boset, Dagim, Dursi, Flagot, Warekiyu, Hiber and Tesfa. Qualitative data were also collected from the pertinent key informants. The amount of tef production per hectare was used to measure household productivity, and a Household Commercialization Index (HCI) was used to determine the level of their commercialization. Welfare was proxied by measuring consumption per adult equivalent. One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was employed to investigate farmers’ spending at various levels of commercialization. The Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method was used to investigate how the Korra tef impacted adopters’ welfare in comparison to non-adopters. A strong correlation was found between the adopters’ spending and commercialization. The adoption of the Korra tef showed a positive and significant impact on the expenditures of the adopters. Therefore, it is important to strengthen the value chain of tef in addition to promoting access to Korra tef. Governmental and non-governmental organizations should provide farmers with market-focused extension services, to enable them to increase crop productivity and engage in the market, thereby enhancing their welfare.