English

Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the determinants of Sheno butter market participation decision and level of participation in Kimbibit District. The study took a random sample of 126 butter producer households by using multi-stage sampling procedure and employing a probability proportional to sample size sampling technique. The Heckman two-stage econometric estimation procedure is employed to identify factors that determine butter market participation decision and volume of participation. The result of descriptive statistics revealed that there were significant mean and proportional difference among participant (79%) and non-participant (21%) households in terms of livestock holding, total food crop yield, non-dairy farm income and edible oil and vegetable butter consumption. Likewise the result of the Heckman first stage (probit) showed that butter market entry decision was significantly affected by age, education level, distance to nearest butter market and access to market information of households. The second stage estimation result revealed that total butter output, total butter consumption, number of cross bred milking cows, edible oil and vegetables butter consumption and market information were found to be significantly affect the volume of marketed butter. Key words: Market participation, determinants, Heckman’s procedure, Sheno butter, Kimbibit