Determinants of Market Participation Decision and Intensity among Date Producers in Afar Region, Ethiopia: A Double Hurdle Approach

ABSTRACT Date palm production and marketing contribute substantially to food security, reduction of malnutrition, mitigation of poverty, and income diversification for poor agro-pastoralists in Ethiopia. However, marketing systems are not sophisticated and well functioning, and producers do not as such benefit from date market participation due to different factors. This study examined factors that determine date market participation decisions and intensity. A total of 384 date producers were selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. A Descriptive and Double hurdle model was employed to analyze the data. The Double hurdle econometric model revealed that producers with access to extension services, improved date palm varieties, credit, road infrastructure, market information, land access, better market prices, better educational status, and direct to consumer marketing channels were more likely to participate in and supply the date market. Whereas producers who had livestock, dwellings distant from the nearest market, or a greater number of date palm trees, were adversely affected in date market participation intensity. The results of this study support the recommendations for establishing extension services, rural education, rural road infrastructure, marketplaces, and institutional support; and providing credit access, improved date palm varieties, additional hectares of land for date production, and updated market information to date palm producers.