| Peer-Reviewed

The Role of Agricultural Cooperatives in Risk Management and Impact on Farm Income: Evidence from Southern Ethiopia

Received: 3 November 2016    Accepted: 30 November 2016    Published: 12 January 2017
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

Rural households face considerable risks related to farm business such as variability of yield and market conditions. These risks are especially important if they result in income fluctuations. One possible strategy for household is to take up low-risk activities, even if they imply lower returns. This is likely if the households are constrained with risk management instruments. Integrated Seed Sector development Ethiopia program has been intervening to reduce such sub-optimal decision by organizing farmers under Agricultural Cooperatives and establishing market linkage. In this paper, Author examined the role of the intervention on risk-management behavior of farm households (manifested by crop choice) and impact on farm income in case of Southern Ethiopia. The two-step Instrumental Variable estimates confirm positive impact of agricultural cooperatives on crop choice and farm income. In attempt to identify major determinants of participation in the program, the binary probit estimates shed light on factors behind the participation decision and indicates that participation in agricultural cooperatives is strongly linked to access to the program, access to information, having contact with farm extension agents, land size, distance from main road and household size. Majority of non-participants are poor, women, and young headed households. Thus, enhancing participation of the poor, women and young headed households will have favorable impact for increasing resilience of farm households and poverty reduction.

Published in International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (Volume 4, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijebo.20160404.11
Page(s) 28-39
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Cooperative, Risk-Management, Impact

References
[1] Bekele, S. (2010). “Agricultural Technology Adoption and Rural Poverty.” Nairobi, Keniya: CIMMYT.
[2] Fleisher, B. (1990), "Agricultural Risk Management", Boulder, Lynne Rienner Publishers.
[3] Anderson J. R. and J. L. Dillon, (1992) "Risk analysis in dryland farming systems", Farm Systems Management Series 2, FAO, Rome (1992).
[4] R. M. Townsend, R. A. E. Mueller, (1998), "Mechanism design and village economies: from credit to tenancy to cropping groups" Review of Economic Dynamics, pp. 119–172.
[5] Udry, C. (1999). “Development Microeconomics”. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.
[6] Glewwe, P. and G. Hall, (1998) “Are some groups more vulnerable to macroeconomic shocks than others? Hypothesis tests based on panel data from Peru”, Journal of Development Economics, vol.56, 181-206.
[7] Baez, J., Kronick, D. and Mason A. 2013 "Rural Households in a Changing Climate," World Bank Research Observer, World Bank Group, 28 (2): 267-289.
[8] Baez J., (2006): "Income Volatility, Risk-Coping Behavior and Consumption Smoothing Mechanisms in Developing Countries: A Survey," Revista Desarrolloy Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes.
[9] Rosenzweig, M. and K. Wolpin, (1993), “Credit Market Constraints, Consumption Smoothing, and the Accumulation of Durable Production Assets in Low-income Countries: Investment in Bullocks in India”, Journal of Political Economy, 101, no. 2, 223-244.
[10] Dercon S. 1996: "Risk, crop choice and savings: Evidence from Tanzania," Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol.44, No. 3, pp. 485-514.
[11] Dercon, S. and L. Christiaensen (2007), “Consumption risk, technology adoption and poverty traps: evidence from Ethiopia,” The Centre for the Study of African Economies Working Paper Series, 2007, p. 265.
[12] Fafchamps, M. (1992) “Cash crop production, food price volatility, and rural market integration in the third world”. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 74 (1): 90{99}.
[13] Zimmerman, F. and Carter, M. (2003): "Asset Smoothing, Consumption Smoothing and the Reproduction of Inequality under Risk and Subsistence Constraints"' Journal of Development Economics, 71: 233-260.
[14] Anderson J. R, (2003), "Risk in rural development: challenges for managers and policy makers", Agricultural Systems, 75 (2-3), 161–197. doi: 10.1016/S0308-521X (02) 00064-1.
[15] Eswaran, M. and Kotwal A. (1990) Implications of Credit Constraints for Risk Behavior in Less Developed Economies. Oxford Economic Papers 42 (2): 473–82.
[16] Ethan L. (2009) "Risk Management in the Cooperative Contract", American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 91, No. 5 (2009): 1211–1217.
[17] Bernard, T. et al (2010). Cooperatives for Staple Crop Marketing: Evidence from Ethiopia. International Food Policy Research Institute. Washington.
[18] FAO, (2015): Agricultural cooperatives: paving the way for food security and rural development, Available from: http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/ap431e/ap431e.pdf.
[19] FAO (2007). Approaches to linking producers to markets, Rome, FAO.
[20] ISSD. (2013). “Annual Report on the Performance of ISSD Ethiopia program, Hawassa University Section.” Hawassa: ISSD Ethiopia.
[21] Karlan, E.(2011). “Crop Price Indemnified Loans for Farmers:A Pilot Experment in Rural Ghana.”The Journal of Risk and Insurance, Vol. 78, No.1, 37-55.
[22] World Bank WB (2010), Publications; Agriculture and poverty reduction.
[23] John Bryden, and Ray Bollman (1999). Rural employment in industrialized countries: Elsevier Science B. V., IAAE XXIII Conference, Sacramento.
[24] Alemseged S., (2011) “Assessment of quality of haricot bean seed in Boricha Woreda, Sidama zone, SNNPRS”, unpublished MSc thesis.
[25] Abrham M., (2011) "Participatory variety evaluation and selection of common bean to enhance capacity of Seed Producing Cooperatives in managing their variety portifolio" SNNPR, Etiopia” MA thesis.
[26] Mesfin Mulugeta, (2012). “Value chain and adoption intensity of improved haricot bean seed in Boricha woreda of SNNPR, Ethiopia”.
[27] Million Kasaye, (2011). “Factors determining farmers’ choice of improved quality seed and variety of haricot bean in Meskan and Boricha Woredas of SNNPR”.
[28] Bikila Adugna (2012). “Assessment of Wheat Seed quality package in Wudiget and Amard Seed Producing Cooperatives in Sodo and Lanfero Woreda, SNNPRS” Unpublished MSc thesis.
[29] Shimels Araya, (2012). “Small holder adoption and market participation in improved local seed system”: the case of Wheat seed in Meskan and Sodo Woreda, SNNPRS.
[30] Abebayehu G., (2011) “Technical efficiency analysis of haricot bean seed production in Boricha district, SNNRR, Ethiopia”: Unpublished masters’ thesis.
[31] Ligon E. (2008). Risk Management in the Cooperative Contract: Theory and evidence from village economies,The Review of Economic Studies 69 (1), 209–244.
[32] Dercon S. (2000) "Income risk, coping strategies and safety nets: Background paper, World Development Report 2000/01, Centre for the Study of African Economies, Oxford University.
[33] Arrow, K. J. (1971) "Essays in the Theory of Risk-Bearing" North-Holland, Amsterdam.
[34] Mailosi, M. (2011). “Crop Choices and Land Productivity on Rented Land in Northern Ethiopian Highlands”. Norwegian University of Life Science.
[35] Rosenzweig, M. and H. Binswanger (1993), “Wealth, Weather Risk and the Composition and Profitability of Agricultural Investments”, Economic Journal, vol.103, no.56-78.
[36] Barry P. J., Baker C. B. (1984) "Risk Management in Agriculture", Iowa State University Press, Ames (1984), pp. 183–198.
[37] Richard C. and Mahen M. (2005): Causes of diversification in agriculture over time: Evidence from Norwegian farming sector: 'The Future of Rural Europe in the Global Agri-Food System', Copenhagen, Denmark.
[38] Carter, M. R. (1997) "Environment, technology, and the social articulation of risk in West African agriculture": Economic Development and Cultural Change, 45 (3) (1997), pp. 557–590.
[39] Pandey, S., Behura, D. D., Villano, R., Naik D., (2001): Economic cost of drought and farmers’ coping mechanisms: a study of rain fed rice systems in eastern India (Unpublished paper). IRRI, Los Baños.
[40] Upton, M. (1987) "African Farm Management" Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
[41] Wik M. (2004). “Experimental Studies of Peasant's Attitudes towards Risk in Northern Zambia”, Agricultural University of Norway.
[42] Pender, J. and Alemu D. (2007) Determinants of Smallholder Commercialization of Food Crops, Theory and Evidence from Ethiopia. IFPRI Discussion Paper 00745, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA.
[43] Seid N. & Holger S., (2011) “Impact of proximity to Urban Center on Crop Production Choice and Rural Income”, Ethiopian Journal of Economics, vol. XX, 105-131.
[44] Kruseman, G., Ruben, R., & Tesfay, G. (2006). "Village stratification for policy analysis: Multiple development domains in the Ethiopian highlands of Tigray", Strategies for sustainable land management in the East African highlands, pp 81-106 Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.
[45] Pender, J., Place, F. and Ehui, S. (2006) "Strategies for Sustainable Land Management in the East African Highlands", Washington, D. C.: International Food Policy Research Institute. DOI: 10.2499/0896297578.
[46] Bosch, D. J., Pease J. W. (2000), Economic risk and water quality protection in agriculture, Review of Agricultural Economics, 22 (2) pp. 438–463.
[47] Jose A. Gomez-Limon (2002): Agricultural Risk Aversion Revisited: A Multicriteria Decision-Making Approach, Paper prepared for presentation at the Xth EAAE Congress ‘Exploring Diversity in the European Agri-Food System’, Zaragoza (Spain), 28-31 August 2002.
[48] Wang J., R. Mendelsohn, A. Dinar, J. Huang (2010): How Chinese farmers change crop choice to adapt to climate change, Clim. Chang. Econ., 1, pp. 167–185.
[49] Klasen, S., J. Priebe, R. and Rudolf "Cash crop choice and income dynamics in rural areas: evidence for post-crisis Indonesia" Agric. Econ., 44 (2013), pp. 349–364 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/agec.12015.
[50] Andrea B., (2014) "Crop choices under risk and subsistence constraints: evidence from rural Ethiopia.
[51] Lee M. J. (2005): Micro-Econometrics for Policy, Program and Treatment Effects. Advanced Texts in Econometrics. Oxford University Press.
[52] Wooldridge, J. M. (2010). “Econometric Analysis of Cross-Section and Pannel Data. London, England”: The MIT Press.
[53] Lipton, M. (1968). “The Theory of Optimizing Peasant.” Journal of Development Studies, 4:, 154-74.
[54] Yesuf, M. (2009). Poverty, “Risk Aversion, and Path Dependence in Low-Income Countries: Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia”. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 91, Issue 4, pp. 1022-1037.
[55] Abebe Z. (2011), Dimensions and Determinants of Poverty among Rural Households: Unpublished MA thesis, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
[56] Ayelech B., Konrad H. Humboldt, and Benedikt K. (2005), "Determinants of poverty in rural Ethiopia": Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture 44 (2005), No. 2: 101-120.
[57] Collier, P. and J. W. Gunning (1999), “Explaining African Economic Performance”, Journal of Economic Literature, March, vol. XXXVII, No.1, 64-111.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Ashenafi Duguma Feyisa. (2017). The Role of Agricultural Cooperatives in Risk Management and Impact on Farm Income: Evidence from Southern Ethiopia. International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 4(4), 28-39. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20160404.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Ashenafi Duguma Feyisa. The Role of Agricultural Cooperatives in Risk Management and Impact on Farm Income: Evidence from Southern Ethiopia. Int. J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 2017, 4(4), 28-39. doi: 10.11648/j.ijebo.20160404.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Ashenafi Duguma Feyisa. The Role of Agricultural Cooperatives in Risk Management and Impact on Farm Income: Evidence from Southern Ethiopia. Int J Econ Behav Organ. 2017;4(4):28-39. doi: 10.11648/j.ijebo.20160404.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ijebo.20160404.11,
      author = {Ashenafi Duguma Feyisa},
      title = {The Role of Agricultural Cooperatives in Risk Management and Impact on Farm Income: Evidence from Southern Ethiopia},
      journal = {International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization},
      volume = {4},
      number = {4},
      pages = {28-39},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijebo.20160404.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20160404.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijebo.20160404.11},
      abstract = {Rural households face considerable risks related to farm business such as variability of yield and market conditions. These risks are especially important if they result in income fluctuations. One possible strategy for household is to take up low-risk activities, even if they imply lower returns. This is likely if the households are constrained with risk management instruments. Integrated Seed Sector development Ethiopia program has been intervening to reduce such sub-optimal decision by organizing farmers under Agricultural Cooperatives and establishing market linkage. In this paper, Author examined the role of the intervention on risk-management behavior of farm households (manifested by crop choice) and impact on farm income in case of Southern Ethiopia. The two-step Instrumental Variable estimates confirm positive impact of agricultural cooperatives on crop choice and farm income. In attempt to identify major determinants of participation in the program, the binary probit estimates shed light on factors behind the participation decision and indicates that participation in agricultural cooperatives is strongly linked to access to the program, access to information, having contact with farm extension agents, land size, distance from main road and household size. Majority of non-participants are poor, women, and young headed households. Thus, enhancing participation of the poor, women and young headed households will have favorable impact for increasing resilience of farm households and poverty reduction.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - The Role of Agricultural Cooperatives in Risk Management and Impact on Farm Income: Evidence from Southern Ethiopia
    AU  - Ashenafi Duguma Feyisa
    Y1  - 2017/01/12
    PY  - 2017
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20160404.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijebo.20160404.11
    T2  - International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
    JF  - International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
    JO  - International Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
    SP  - 28
    EP  - 39
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7616
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijebo.20160404.11
    AB  - Rural households face considerable risks related to farm business such as variability of yield and market conditions. These risks are especially important if they result in income fluctuations. One possible strategy for household is to take up low-risk activities, even if they imply lower returns. This is likely if the households are constrained with risk management instruments. Integrated Seed Sector development Ethiopia program has been intervening to reduce such sub-optimal decision by organizing farmers under Agricultural Cooperatives and establishing market linkage. In this paper, Author examined the role of the intervention on risk-management behavior of farm households (manifested by crop choice) and impact on farm income in case of Southern Ethiopia. The two-step Instrumental Variable estimates confirm positive impact of agricultural cooperatives on crop choice and farm income. In attempt to identify major determinants of participation in the program, the binary probit estimates shed light on factors behind the participation decision and indicates that participation in agricultural cooperatives is strongly linked to access to the program, access to information, having contact with farm extension agents, land size, distance from main road and household size. Majority of non-participants are poor, women, and young headed households. Thus, enhancing participation of the poor, women and young headed households will have favorable impact for increasing resilience of farm households and poverty reduction.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Economics Department, Arba Minch Univerity, Arba Minch, Ethiopia

  • Sections