ISSN 2360-7971
Abstract
Accepted 31st March, 2016
Hadiya zone in southern region of Ethiopia is well known for enset farming. In the area, kocho the major product of enset is perceived to have high market value, resulting in tradeoffs with staple food. Despite kocho market value, determinants of status band extent of kocho producer market participation has not been studied and quantified. Therefore, this paper aims to identify factors influencing market participation and marketed surplus of kocho. Data were obtained from a sample of 398 households selected using multistage purposive and random sampling techniques. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics and Heckman two-stage selection model. The results showed that age, sex, access to market information, availability of labor, non/off-farm income, perception of kocho price, quantity of kocho producer and livestock holding had significantly influenced market participation decision and extent of marketed surplus. Based on the findings, it can be recommended that offering farmers a fair price, encouraging the use of labor saving technology, availing market information services, encouraging farmer’s livestock holding besides farming, and paying attention to female households are needed to increase kocho marketed surplus.
Keywords: Heckman two-stage model, market participation, small-scale kocho farmers.