Contribution of cluster farming to household economy in Ethiopia: A systematic review

Context

Cluster farming is a new approach that began in Ethiopia in 2015 to shift smallholder farmers' production from subsistence to a commercial system. Improving income, increasing exports, ensuring food quality and affordability, reducing reliance on imports and developing the domestic market; expanding industries, and creating off-farm employment opportunities are the primary objectives of cluster commercial farms.

Objective

This review attempts to summarize how Ethiopian households benefit from cluster farming.

Methods

The review used a systematic review approach to analyze evidence gathered from various scholars. Keywords, review topics, and research questions are utilized to search electronic databases. We made sure to save 118 documents for sampling by using an electronic database search engine. A PRISMA diagram is used to select a document using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Non-English documents, unrelated topics, and documents published before 2015 are not considered for the review. Finally, 32 documents were used for document review and synthesis.

Results and conclusions

Participation in cluster farming for the household economy is influenced by age, gender, education, family size, farm size, experience, and access to credit services. Different studies have found that cluster farming is associated with increased production, income, food security, consumption, poverty reduction, and improved livelihoods. Cluster farming operations' success depends on the quality of their leadership, management, and costs, as well as their high-quality products, favorable environmental conditions, and market access. Climate change, a lack of diversification, and limited inclusion of local farming practices, such as intercropping and relay cropping systems, all pose challenges to its success. In light of these findings, it was recommended that cluster farming should be designed to suit local agricultural and cultural contexts for a sustainable cluster-based production system.

Significance

As shown in this study, cluster farming in Ethiopia can be a pathway out of food insecurity and poverty towards sustainable livelihoods and improved quality of life. A cluster farming system facilitates agricultural commercialization to boost the productivity of smallholder farmers in an organized and cooperative manner. Farmers can access extension services, agricultural mechanizations, markets, training, experiences, and links with agricultural supporting institutions through cluster farming. Cluster farming has lately been expanded and implemented in several parts of the country.