Determinants of Niger Seed Marketed Surplus Among Small Farm Households:The Case of Wama Hagalo Districts of East Wollega, Ethiopia

Abstract

Though agriculture continues to dominate the national economy of Ethiopia, both in terms of overall agricultural production and productivity, the sector suffers from major structural problems. The majority of farmers in Ethiopia are smallholders, producing mostly for own consumption and generating only a small marketed surplus. This study tries to assess the major determinants of marketed surplus particularly Niger seed. To conduct the study, both primary and secondary data sources were used. A multi stage sampling technique were applied to collect primary data from 120 small farm households. The study employed both descriptive statistics and econometrics model in the analysis of the data. Ordinary Least Squares(OLS) method were applied to assess the determinants of Niger seed marketed surplus in the study area. Prior to OLS estimation, the explanatory variables were tested for Multicollinearity and Heteroscedasticity. The result of the regression analysis shows that age of the households, Tropical livestock holdings, and farm size of the households significantly affects Niger seed marketed surplus in the study area. Keywords: Niger Seed, Marketed Surplus, Households, Wollega, Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-9-02 Publication date: May 31 st 2020