International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD)

Volume 7 Issue 6, November-December 2023 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470

Determinants of Smallholder Farmers’ Vegetable Crop

Commercialization in East Hararghe Zone,
Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia
Solomon Ayele, Kibret Ketema, Hussein Abro
Socio-Economics Research Team, Fedis Agricultural Research Center,
Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Harar, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT How to cite this paper: Solomon Ayele |

Transforming the subsistence-oriented production system into a Kibret Ketema | Hussein Abro
market-oriented production system as a way to increase the "Determinants of Smallholder Farmers’
smallholder farmer’s income and reduce rural poverty has been in the Vegetable Crop Commercialization in
East Hararghe Zone, Oromia Regional
policy spotlight of many developing countries, including Ethiopia,
State, Ethiopia" Published in
particularly in the East Hararghe Zone. The objective of this study International
was to identify determinants of household-level output side Journal of Trend in
commercialization of vegetable crops in the East Hararghe Zone. A Scientific Research
multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 230 sample and Development
vegetable producers by using probability proportional to population (ijtsrd), ISSN:
size. Descriptive statistics and econometric models were used to 2456-6470,
analyze data. The findings further revealed that the mean household Volume-7 | Issue-6, IJTSRD59881
vegetable commercialization index (HCI) was 89.21%. The results December 2023,
from the Tobit regression model revealed that commercialization of pp.341-350, URL:
vegetable crops was determined by the distances to the nearest www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd59881.pdf
market center, access to market information, livestock ownership,
Copyright © 2023 by author (s) and
cooperative membership, and the area allocated under vegetable International Journal of Trend in
production. This study recommended that improving market access, Scientific Research and Development
organizing farmers into groups to have better access to agricultural Journal. This is an
inputs, providing market information through networking and Open Access article
institutions, and clustering and intensification of vegetable crop distributed under the
production are therefore crucial in enhancing the commercialization terms of the Creative Commons
and level of vegetable commercialization in the study area. Attribution License (CC BY 4.0)
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
KEYWORDS: Commercialization, East Hararghe, Smallholder
farmers, Tobit model, Vegetable crop

1. INTRODUCTION
Commercialization in agriculture refers to the and exports away from traditional commodities to
progressive shift from household production for auto- accelerate economic growth, expand employment
consumption to production for sale in the market. opportunities, and reduce rural poverty [3]. Market-
This shift entails that production and input decisions oriented production can allow households to increase
are based on profit maximization, reinforcing vertical their income by producing output with higher returns
linkages between input and output markets [1]. to land and labor and using the income generated
Historically, this has typically been a lengthy process from sales to purchase goods for consumption [4].
of transformation from subsistence to semi- Similarly, the Ethiopian government, in its two-
commercial farming, and then to fully consecutive five-year Growth and Transformation
commercialized agriculture [2]. Increasing the extent Plan (GTP-I and GTP-II), has given much emphasis
of commercialization among Sub-Saharan Africa’s on agricultural commercialization, among which the
generally semi-subsistence, low-input, low- second pillar intends to achieve growth and thereby
productivity smallholder farmers is seen as playing a improve people’s livelihoods and reduce poverty.
crucial role in poverty alleviation [1]. Commercialization of t smallholder farmers has been
Recently, the governments of developing countries viewed by the government as the major source of
have sought to promote diversification of production agricultural growth in Ethiopia. The government of

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD59881 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 6 | Nov-Dec 2023 Page 341
 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
Ethiopia implemented agricultural commercialization conducted factors that determined the degree of
clusters with the primary goal of commercialization commercialization of potato production in the
of smallholders’ agriculture and agro-industrial Kombolcha district which was focused on a single
development, offering a strategic entry point for crop.
private sector engagement [5].
Even though, in the study areas, the extent to which
Vegetable production plays an important role in farmers have commercialized major vegetable crop
poverty alleviation through employment generation, production was not known. There was no research
improving the feeding behavior of the people, and conducted on the commercialization of major
creating new opportunities for poor farmers. Since the vegetable crops in the study areas. In addition, in the
labor-to-land ratio of vegetable cultivation is high, study area, the purpose of vegetable production
vegetable products are bulky and perishable, and (family consumption and/or for sale) varies from
vegetable has continuous demand in the market, its situation to situation and person to person. As such,
production and marketing allows high productive there are tremendous factors, which influence the
employment. Increasing horticultural production and level of commercialization in vegetable production.
marketing thus contribute to the commercialization of Therefore, this study was mainly devised to find the
the rural economy and create many off-farm jobs [6]. level of major vegetables (potato, onion, tomato, and
Most of the vegetables and fruit produced in the cabbage) commercialization (measured from the
eastern region are exported to Djibouti and small output side more prevalent way than that of the input
amounts of fruit and vegetables are also exported to side), and identification of factors determining the
Europe, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen [7]. proportion of vegetable marketed at the households
Small-scale production is concentrated in Harerghe level in the selected districts of the East Hararghe
(eastern highland parts) and the central highlands, Zone.
whilst large commercialized cultivations are widely
2. METHODOLOGY
spread in the low land zones, mainly following the
2.1. Descriptions of the Study Areas
Awash and Gibe/Omo rivers [6]. According to the
This study was conducted in vegetable-producing
Ethiopian Export Promotion Agency, the eastern parts
districts of East Hararghe Zone namely Kombolcha,
of the country like Haramaya, Kombolcha, Dire
Haramaya, and Kersa because of their medium for
Dawa, and Harari region are well known for the
both export and domestic vegetable marketing centers
production and supply of vegetable crops.
and production potentials.
Although there is a wealth of literature on smallholder
Kombolcha District: Kombolcha district is one of
commercialization in Ethiopia, it is mainly on grain
the nineteen districts of East Hararghe Zone of
crops and livestock and livestock products however
Oromia Regional State. It is located about 17 km
market participation of the smallholder vegetable crop
north of Harar town and 542 km east of Addis Ababa,
producers in the country is still limited. Accordingly,
the nation’s capital city. The altitude of the district
various empirical studies pointed out that, in Ethiopia,
ranges from 1200-2460 meters above sea level. Agro-
smallholder commercialization is determined by
climatically, the district ranges from Woina-dega
institutional factors, infrastructural and market-related
(mid-altitude) to Kola (lowlands). The annual rainfall
factors, household resource endowments, and
ranges from 600mm to 900mm with a bimodal and
household-specific characteristics [8]; [9]; [10]; [11];
erratic pattern. The mean annual temperature of the
[12]; [13]. Eastern Hararghe zones have good
area ranges between 16-25°C.
potential in vegetable crop production for which
smallholder farming has diversified from staple food Different types of vegetables and cereals are grown in
subsistence production into more market-oriented and the district. The most commonly grown vegetables
higher-value commodities. However, there is an are potato, cabbage, onion, and carrot, and among the
apparent knowledge gap as regards factors cereals sorghum and maize are dominant. Chat is also
influencing the degree of commercialization of one of the intensively grown crops in the area. The
vegetable crops in Ethiopia in general and in district is also one of the potato trading centers in the
particular to the East Hararghe zone because most of country from which potato is sold for export and
the literature on Ethiopia has been largely crop- domestic market.
specific (focusing on a single crop in most cases) and Haramaya District: Haramaya district is one of the
based on narrow samples drawn from one or two nineteen districts of the East Hararghe Zone of
districts that do not allow generalization. Moreover, Oromia Regional State. It is located about 12 km west
there are issues related to how commercialization is of Harar town and 524 km east of Addis Ababa, the
conceptually defined and measured. [14]; [15] nation’s capital city. The altitude of the district ranges

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD59881 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 6 | Nov-Dec 2023 Page 342
 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
from 1214-2066 meters above sea level. Agro- Kersa District: Kersa district is one of the nineteen
climatically, the district ranges from Woina-dega districts of the East Hararghe Zone of Oromia
(mid-altitude) to Kola (lowlands). The annual rainfall Regional State. It is located about 51 km west of
ranges from 600mm to 900mm with a bimodal and Harar town and 475 km east of Addis Ababa, the
erratic pattern. The mean annual temperature of the nation’s capital city. The altitude of the district ranges
area ranges between 16-25°C. from 1400 -3200 meters above sea level. The
Farming practices of the district are under rain-fed, agroclimatic of the district is Highland, Midland, and
and irrigation for crop production. The major crops Lowland. The mean annual rainfall of the district is
cultivated under rainfed was sorghum, maize, some 1500mm with a bimodal and erratic pattern. The
pulse crop, and dual season crop production practiced mean annual temperature of the area ranges between
i.e. both under rainfed, and irrigation were some 18-22°C.
vegetables (potato, lettuce, onion, and khat Farming practices of the district are under rain-fed,
dominantly cultivated in the area. The common cash and irrigation for crop production. The major crops
crops produced under irrigation in the area were grown in the area are wheat, maize, sorghum, haricot
potatoes, head cabbage, leaf cabbage, lettuce, small bean, Feba bean, chickpea, lentil, linseed, potato,
pod, hot pepper, carrot, beat root, and shallot (baro) cabbage, onion, and beetroot.
are important crops following khat.

Figure 1. Map of study areas

2.2. Types, Sources of data, and Methods of data collection
Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from secondary and primary sources. Primary data were
collected from sampled household interviews who were randomly selected from the selected kebeles using
structured and semi-structured questionnaires. Secondary data were collected from secondary sources (published
and unpublished materials), the District's Office of Agriculture, and other sources.
2.3. Sampling procedure and Sample size determination
A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select sample households. In the first stage, vegetable crop-
growing potential districts were identified in collaboration with the zonal office of agriculture and accordingly,
four districts were selected purposively. In the second stage, vegetable crops growing kebeles were listed based
on their production potential and accessible roads with districts' agricultural office experts. Accordingly, three
kebeles were randomly selected in each district. In the third stage, sampled households growing vegetable crops
were randomly selected from the sampled kebeles.
2.4. Methods of data analysis
Both descriptive statistics and econometric models were used to analyze the collected data. The statistical value
of the mean, standard deviation, percentages, and ratios was used to examine and understand the socio-economic

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD59881 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 6 | Nov-Dec 2023 Page 343
 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
characteristics of sampled households. Commercial Index (HCI) was used to analyze the level of vegetable crop
commercialization. The Tobit econometric model was used to analyze the determinants of commercialization of
smallholder farmers’ vegetable crops in the study area.
2.4.1. Analysis of the level of major vegetable commercialization
Different approaches and indicators have been used for measuring the level of agriculture commercialization
[16] three types of indices for measuring commercialization at the household level. These are the (i) output and
input side commercialization type indices which measure the proportion of agricultural output sold to the market
and input acquired from the market to the total value of agricultural production, (ii) commercialization of the
rural economy index is defined as the ratio of the value of goods and services acquired through market
transactions to total household income. Here, there is an assumption that some transactions may take place in-
kind such as payments with food commodities for land use, and (iii) the degree of a household’s integration into
the cash economy which is measured as the ratio of the value of goods and services acquired by cash transaction
to the total household income [17].
[17] and [18] on the other hand used a household commercialization index (HCI) to measure the extent of
commercialization at the household level. The HCI is a ratio of the gross value of all crop sales per household
per year to the gross value of all crop production. It thus measures the degree to which a household sells its
output to the market. The advantage of HCI is that it provides a level of commercialization for every household
separately. A majority of studies measure the level of smallholder commercialization in terms of the proportion
of output sold in markets [16]. This study was used to measure agricultural commercialization in terms of scale
adapted from [17]; [18] and [20]. It is an index measured as the proportion of the total amount sold to the total
output produced at the farm level as given in equation (1):
(1)

The gross value of vegetables sold = , the Gross value of all vegetables produced = ,
Then;
(2)

Where, refers to the level of households’ commercialization index growing vegetable crop “k” which
is ), is the value of vegetable crop sold in monetary terms of crop k, and is the monetary
value of the total vegetable crop k where k ranges from 1, 2…k. The vegetable crops considered will be potato,
onion, tomato, and cabbage which are produced for home consumption as well as for market purposes. The
larger the index the higher the degree of commercialization and a value of zero showing a subsistence-oriented
household. Following the works by [3] and [4] the farm households involved in greater sales of crop output with
an index value of fifty or more (HCI ≥50) are commercial-oriented while those with lesser or no sales (HCI <50)
are subsistence-oriented.
2.4.2. Determinants of smallholder farmers’ vegetable commercialization
The dependent variable used to measure the commercialization of vegetable-producing sample households was
the commercialization index. HCI is the ratio of the gross value of all vegetable sales to the gross value of all
vegetable production by a household. The commercialization index is censored because some of its values
cluster at the limit (i.e., 0 for subsistence producers and 1 for fully commercialized). Hence, the censored
regression model is the option for handling this limited dependent variable. Therefore, this study used a Tobit
regression model. The Tobit regression model was chosen because it allows for the estimation of linear
relationships between variables when there is either left- or right-censoring in the dependent variable (also
known as censoring from below and above, respectively [21]. The structural equation of the Tobit model is given
as:
(3)
Denoting Yi as the observed dependent (censored) variable

(4)
Where:

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD59881 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 6 | Nov-Dec 2023 Page 344
 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
= the observed dependent variable, in this case, commercialization
= the latent variable (unobserved for values smaller than 0 and greater than 1)
= is a vector of independent variables hypothesized to influence commercialization.
= are parameters associated with the independent variables to be estimated.
= Residuals that are independently and identically normally distributed with mean zero and common variance.
= 1, 2…, n, (n is the number of observations).
β = a vector of parameters to be estimated
U = disturbance term
Table 1. Summary of dependent and independent variables used in the econometric model
Variables Definition Measurement Expected sign
Dependent variable
Household Commercialization The gross value of the crop sold to the
HCI
Index gross value of the crop produced
Independent variables
AgeHH Age of household head Year of household head +/-
Education level of household
EduHH Level of education +
head
GenderHH Gender of household head 1= male, 0= female +/-
The total active labor force in
FamSize Man equivalent +
the household
Farming experience of Number of years since started farm
FarmExper +
household head activity
Total livestock owned by
TLU Tropical Livestock Unit +/-
household
AccMktInf Access to market information 1 if access to information, 0= otherwise +
AccCredt Access to credit 1 if access to loan, 0= otherwise +
1 if the access to irrigation and 0
AccIrrig Access to Irrigation +
otherwise
DistMkt Distance to the nearest market Kilometers/walking hours -
Off/NonFam Off/non-farm activities Birr/year -
1 if access to extension services and 0
ExtCont Access to extension services +
otherwise
Total land allocated for
FarmSize Hector +
vegetable production
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Descriptive Statistics Results
3.1.1. Socio-Economic Characteristics of the Sample Households
The descriptive statistics results of the socioeconomic characteristics of the sample households in the selected
districts are presented in Tables 3 and 4. As shown in Table 3, the majority (about 92%) of the respondents were
male-headed households. While Table 4 shows that, the average age of the sample household heads is about 34
years and the household heads have about 9 years of vegetable production experience. The survey results show
that 36.5% of the vegetable producers were illiterate while the remaining sample respondents were literate.
Table 2. Summary statistics of sample households (dummy variables)
Variable Category Freq. Percentage
Male 213 92.61
Sex of household head
Female 17 7.39
Literate 146 63.48
Education of household head
Illiterate 84 36.52
Yes 163 70.87
Access to irrigation
No 67 29.13
Yes 190 82.61
Access to market price information
No 40 17.39

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD59881 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 6 | Nov-Dec 2023 Page 345
 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
Yes 22 9.57
Access to credit services
No 208 90.43
Yes 104 45.22
Access to Extension services
No 126 54.78
Yes 51 22.17
Membership to cooperatives
No 179 77.83
Yes 117 50.87
Access to improved seed/s
No 113 49.13
Source: Computed from survey data result, 2022
The survey indicated that 70.82% of those respondents use irrigation for vegetable production. Most of the
farmers rely on boreholes and ponds for irrigation. In the study areas, a water-pumping motor (owned or
exchanged with labor service for fieldwork or just mutual assistance of the neighbors) plays a great role in
undertaking the irrigation. According to the survey result, 9.57% of the sample vegetable-producing households
had access to credit.
Access to timely and accurate vegetable market information is the basic element for producers to decide how
much to produce and supply to market at what possible prices. (Table 3) revealed that 82.61% of the total sample
households had access to vegetable market information.
Table 3. Summary statistics of sample households (continuous variables)
Variable Mean Std. Dev Min Max
Age of household head (year) 34.88 10.129 20 70
Household size (no.) 7 2.71 1 13
Total own landholding (ha) 0.331 0.196 0 1
Livestock owned (TLU) 2.23 1.56 0 8.02
Farm experience in vegetable production (year) 9.42 6.28 1 30
Distance to the nearest marketplace (Minutes) 54.76 24.92 10 120
Annual non/off-farm income (Birr) 1094.35 310.85 0 40000
Source: Computed from survey data result, 2022
Despite the huge and extensive investment in promoting extension services in the country, the survey shows that
only 45.22% of the total sample respondents had been contacted or visited by developmental agents on vegetable
production (Table 2). Concerning the distance to the nearest market, according to the survey, the respondent
farmers are expected to travel an average distance of about 54. 76 minutes to access the nearest market. The
mean total land holding for the sample vegetable producers is 0.331 hectares. The average number of livestock
for the sample households is 2.23 tropical livestock units (Table 3).
3.1.2. Types of Vegetables Produced in the Study Areas
Different types of vegetables are grown in the study area with different intensities in terms of land and other
input allocation, purpose of production, and marketability. The most commonly grown vegetables in terms of the
number of growers are Irish potato, onion, beetroot, cabbage, and carrot (Table 4).
Table 4. The proportion of households producing vegetables (2021/2022 production year)
S.No. Crops Frequency Percentage
1 Irish potato 225 97.82
2 Cabbage 37 16.08
3 Beetroot 42 18.26
4 Carrot 22 9.57
5 Onion 43 18.69
Source: Computed from survey data result, 2022
3.1.3. Commercialization of vegetables Producers
The vegetable is the most commonly grown crop in the study areas in three production cycles. Cycle I (February
to April) and Cycle III (November to January) were produced using irrigation while Cycle II (May to October)
was produced using rainfall. The production may primarily mean for consumption or the market. Some farmers
usually produce certain crops for home consumption and some specific crops for sale [20]. In this case, the
commercial orientation of farmers should be measured regarding a specific crop rather than the farmer, in

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD59881 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 6 | Nov-Dec 2023 Page 346
 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
general. Thus, this study judged the commercialization behavior of smallholder farmers in vegetable production
using the commercialization index. The index was constructed based on production at the household level.
The overall findings of this study showed that the commercialization index for sample vegetable producers was
89.21%. This implies that, on average, 89.21% of all vegetables produced were sold. While the remaining output
was either consumed or stored as seed tubers for the next season. According to [20] and [18] a crop
commercialization index greater than 50% signifies a commercial-oriented farmer for a crop under
consideration. Therefore, vegetable crops produced in the study areas were market-oriented and highly
commercialized.
Table 5 shows the mean production and cash income from sales of vegetables by sample households. From the
total production of vegetables, 89% were sold while the remaining 10% was consumed. For certain vegetables,
the seeds needed for the next production cycle are provided from their production. In the case of potatoes, for
example, 85% was sold, 4% consumed and 11% used for seed whereas 97% of the onions were sold and 3% was
used for consumption.
Table 5. Household Commercialization Index (HCI) of vegetable crops
The area The amount Amount Commercialization
Vegetables
allocated (ha) produced (qt) sold (qt) Index (HCI)
Onion 0.02 3.8 3.7 97.80
Irish Potato 0.13 25.94 22.6 85.37
Cabbage 0.014 6.85 6.52 97.55
Beetroot 0.016 2.39 2.2 92.24
Carrot 0.01 1.86 1.8 96.77
All vegetables 0.19 40.89 36.82 89.21
Source: Computed from survey data result, 2022
3.2. Determinants of smallholder farmers’ vegetable commercialization
The commercial behavior of vegetable producers was measured by the commercialization index, which is the
ratio of the value of vegetables sold to the value of all vegetables produced in the study areas in the given
production year. Different determinants were determining the commercialization behavior of smallholder
farmers in vegetable production. These determinants were analyzed using the Tobit regression model. The
results of the regression are given in (Table 6).
Distance to nearest market: Distance to market was seen to be significant at a 10 percent probability level with
a contrary to expectation positive sign. By implication, it means that the nearer the distance to the market center,
the more likely the farmer’s orientation toward vegetable commercialization and level of commercialization.
Households further away from marketplaces have lower market participation and thus market orientation. This
result is in line with previous studies [22]; [23].
Access to market information: Information access is also another factor, which positively affects the
proportion of vegetables sold at a 5% significance level. This result suggested that the proportion of vegetables
marketed increases in response to access to vegetable market information. Access to information is expected to
enhance the skills and knowledge of farmers, link farmers with modern technology, and ease liquidity and input
supply constraints [24]. Therefore, this study showed that as the smallholder vegetable farmers had access to
market information, more they were likely to be market-oriented towards vegetable commercialization and level
of commercialization.
Livestock ownership: As expected livestock ownership was found to positively and significantly affect at less
than 5 percent of the significance level of vegetable commercialization and level of commercialization in the
study areas. Income obtained from livestock can be used to acquire crop production resources to boost
productivity and, hence, commercialization. Also, access to assets such as ownership of livestock provides
households with leverage to invest in market-oriented production [25].
Cooperative membership: The coefficient of farmers’ membership to a cooperative was positive and
significantly related to vegetable commercialization and level of commercialization at a 10 percent probability
level. This means that farmers’ membership in cooperatives increases vegetable commercialization. Membership
in cooperatives and groups possesses the potential of increased access to information important to production
and marketing decisions. Given this, the result is plausible. It is also in line with previous findings [1].

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD59881 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 6 | Nov-Dec 2023 Page 347
 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
Land allocated under vegetable crops: Land allocated under vegetable crops was positively and significantly
associated with the commercialization and level of commercialization at a 1% significance level. This is
expected since land is a critical production asset having a direct bearing on the production of surplus due to
economies of scale. An additional timad (0.125 ha) of the household-allocated vegetable crops would increase
the proportion of output sold by 135 quintals. Consistent with the findings of [12] an increase in cultivated land
size may have boosted the production of horticultural crops and also consistent with the government’s massive
push to promote and deliver technology packages to smallholders.
Table 6. Tobit estimation results for vegetable commercialization
Explanatory variables Coef. Robust Std. Err P-value
Sex of household head -1.3001 8.856 0.883
Age of household head -0.0038 0.00356 0.274
Education level of household head 7.1014 5.1182 0.167
Family size of household head -0.07966 0.8201 0.923
Distance to the nearest market 0.2061* 0.1236 0.097
Access to market information 9.683** 4.5081 0.033
Access to credit services -11.708 7.7942 0.135
Access to extension services 0.20645 0.8673 0.812
Farm experience in vegetable production 0.36701 0.3658 0.317
Livestock ownership (TLU) 3.1082*** 1.1617 0.008
Non/off-farm activities -5e-05 2.7e04 0.852
Access to irrigation 4.2801 4.0837 0.296
Access to improved seed 6.496 4.668 0.166
Cooperative membership 12.565* 7.126 0.079
The area allocated to vegetable 135.3518*** 32.8001 0.000
Constant -20.54186 16.4654 0.214
/sigma 31.05665 3.5755
The number of observations =130, F (15, 215) = 5.21, Prob> chi2 =0.0000 Log likelihood= -1105.8719, Pseudo
R2 = 0.9112, Note: ***, ** and * indicate significance at 1%, 5%, and 10% levels, respectively. Source: model
output based on survey data, 2022
4. CONCLUSION AND was noted that the commercialization of vegetable
RECOMMENDATIONS crops was determined by access to the market,
Transforming the subsistence-oriented production resource ownership, and institutional factors. The
system into a market-oriented production system as a study found that commercialization was significantly
way to increase the smallholder farmer’s income and influenced by the distances to the nearest market
reduce rural poverty has been in the policy spotlight center, access to market information, livestock
of many developing countries, including Ethiopia. ownership, cooperative membership, and the area
There is a need to deliberately improve the allocated under vegetable production.
smallholder commercialization decision as well as the
The recommendations or policy implications to be
level of commercialization to facilitate stable incomes drawn from this study are based on the significant
and sustainable livelihoods. This study was aimed at variables from the analysis of the empirical study.
analyzing smallholder vegetable commercialization Thus, some relevant policy implications can be drawn
status in the East Hararghe Zone, Oromia National from the findings of this study that can help to design
Regional State, Ethiopia with the specific objectives appropriate intervention mechanisms to improve the
to estimate the household level of output side smallholder commercialization of vegetable crops at
vegetable crops commercialization, determinants of the farm level in the study districts.
commercialization, and the level of
commercialization. The average household The fact that distance to the marketplaces has become
commercialization index for smallholder farmers an important determinant of the commercialization of
engaged in vegetable production was 89.21%, which vegetable crops suggests the role of policies geared
shows that households producing vegetables sell most towards improving physical access to marketplaces
of their farm produce to the market which indicates could yield positive results in improving the
that vegetable commercialization is a highly commercialization of smallholder farmers of
commercialized crop in the study area. However, it vegetable crops. As a result, improving rural

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD59881 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 6 | Nov-Dec 2023 Page 348
 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
infrastructure in developing market infrastructure in diversification: Process and policies. Food
the form of establishing produce collection points Policy.
across rural areas would assist poor farmers in faster
[3] Solomon A, Bekele S, Franklin S. 2010. Does
delivery of farm produce especially perishable
technology adoption promote
commodities of vegetable crops.
commercialization? Evidence from Chickpea
The size of land allocated for vegetable crops affected Technologies in Ethiopia.
the smallholders’ commercialization of vegetable
[4] Schneider K, Gugerty MK. 2010. The impact of
crops positively and significantly. It will be difficult
export-driven cash crops on smallholder
for policymakers to increase the land holding of the
households. Evans School of Public Affairs,
household; but the policies need to strengthen more in
University of Washington. August 17, 2010,
intensifying the farm practices through the provision
EPAR Brief P. 94.
of sustainable and timely availability of inputs,
increasing the farmers’ awareness on production [5] MoFED (Ministry of Finance and Economic
packages like agronomic practices and proper Development). 2015. Growth and
application of inputs. This will enable the farmer to Transformational Plan (GTP 2015-2020). Addis
produce more from the same plot of land so that Ababa, Ethiopia.
increased smallholder farmers' commercialization and [6] Weinberger, K. and A. Lumpkin, 2005.
level of commercialization of vegetable crops will be Horticulture for poverty alleviation: The
achieved. unfunded revolution: The World Vegetable
Livestock possession is also an important determinant Centre, AVRDC Publication No. 05-613,
of the commercialization of vegetable crops which Shanhua, Taiwan.
calls for enhancing the livestock assets of the [7] Bezabih, E., Hadera, G. 2007. Constraints and
household as it provides manures for the farm, means Opportunities of Horticulture Production and
of transportation of their products to the market, and Marketing in Eastern Ethiopia. Drylands
financial liquidity for the farmers. Therefore, the Coordination Group Report No. 46.
study suggested strengthening the existing crop-
livestock production system is crucial. [8] Pender, J. and Dawit Alemu. 2007.
Determinants of Smallholder
Cooperative membership is also an important Commercialization of Food Crops: Theory and
determinant of vegetable commercialization. evidence from Ethiopia. Discussion Paper No.
However, most of the vegetable farmers are 745. Washington D.C., International Food
unorganized or not cooperative members in the study Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
districts. This needs strong government intervention
and the effort should also be made to strengthen [9] Berhanu, G., Moti, J. 2010. Commercialization
farmers’ cooperatives and encourage collective action of Smallholders: Is Market Participation
of farmers to lower transaction costs and access to Enough? Contributed Paper presented at the
inputs. It is important to promote the formation of Joint 3rd African Association of Agricultural
farmer's organizations or cooperatives in pre-urban Economists (AAAE) and 48th Agricultural
and urban areas. Economists Association of South Africa
(AEASA) Conference, Cape Town, South
The concerned institutions like the district's office of Africa, September p. 19-23.
agriculture/extension services experts should provide
market information about prices, market places [10] Goitom A. 2009. Commercialization of
information, time of production, consumers’ smallholder farming in Tigray, Ethiopia:
preference, and other related information that serves Determinants and welfare outcomes. MSc.
as a base for planned production. Thesis, the University of Agder, Kristiansand,
Norway.
5. REFERENCES
[1] Olwande, J., Smale, M., Mathenge, M. K., [11] Adam B, Belay K, Belaineh L, Tesfaye L.
Place, F. and Mithofer, D. 2015. Agricultural 2010. Effect of crop commercial orientation on
marketing by smallholders in Kenya: A the productivity of smallholder farmers in
comparison of maize, kale, and dairy. Food drought-prone areas of the Central Rift Valley
Policy. of Ethiopia. J. Rural Dev. 33(4):105-128.
[2] Pingali, L.P. and Rosegrant, M.W. 1995. [12] Aman Tufa, Adam Bekele and Lemma
Agricultural commercialization and Zemedu. 2014. Determinants of smallholder
commercialization of horticultural crops in

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD59881 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 6 | Nov-Dec 2023 Page 349
 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
Gemechis district, West Hararghe Zone, [19] Gebremedhin, B., M. Jaleta, and D. Hoekstra.
Ethiopia. African Journal of Agricultural 2009. Smallholders, Institutional Services, and
Research, 9(3): 310-319. Commercial Transformation in
Ethiopia.Agricultural Economics 40 (S1):773–
[13] Abafita, J., Atkinson, J. and Kim, C.S. 2016.
787.
Smallholder Commercialization in Ethiopia:
Market Orientation and Participation [20] Bekele, A., Belay, K., Legesse, B., Lemma, T.
International Food Research Journal 23(4): 2011. Effects of Crop Commercial Orientation
1797-1807. on Productivity of Smallholder Farmers in
Drought-Prone Areas of the Central Rift Valley
[14] Chanyalew Seyoum, Tesfaye Lemma, Ranjan
of Ethiopia. Journal of Rural Development Vol.
S. Karippai, 2011. Factors Determining the
33, No. 4, pp. 105- 128.
Degree of Commercialization of Smallholder
Agriculture: The Case of Potato Growers in [21] Maddala, G.S. 1992. Introduction to
Kombolcha District, East Hararghe, Ethiopia Econometrics Second Edition. Macmillan
Publishing Company, New York.
[15] Kumilachew Alamerie. 2016. Commercial
behavior of smallholder potato producers: the [22] Barrett, C. 2007. “Smallholder Market
case of Kombolcha woreda, Eastern part of Participation: Concepts and Evidence from
Ethiopia: Economics of Agriculture Review Eastern and Southern Africa,” Food Policy,
article. volume 33, number 4 (August 2008) pp. 299-
317.
[16] Von Braun, J., and E. Kennedy, 1994.
Conclusions for Agricultural [23] Omiti, J. M., Otieno, D. J., Nyanamba, T. O.,
Commercialization Policy. In Agricultural McCullough, E. 2009. Factors Influencing the
commercialization, economic development, and Intensity of Market Participation by
nutrition. Smallholder Farmers: A Case Study of Rural
and Peri-Urban Areas of Kenya, African
[17] Govereh, J., Jayne, T.S., Nyoro, J. (1999):
Journal of Agricultural and Rural Economics,
Smallholder commercialization, interlinked
vol. 3, pp. 57-82.
markets, and food crop productivity: Cross-
country evidence in eastern and southern [24] Lerman, Z., 2004. Policies and Institutions for
Africa, available at: Commercialization of Subsistence Farms in
http://www.aec.msu.edu/fs2/ag_transformation/ Transition Countries. Journal of Asian
atw_govereh.PDF. Economics 15, pp 461-479, ELSEVIER.
[18] Strasberg, P.J., Jayne, T.S., Yamano, T., Nyoro, [25] Randela, R., Alemu, Z. G. and Groenewald, J.
J., Karanja, D., Strauss, J. (1999): Effects of A. 2017. ‘Factors enhancing market
Agricultural Commercialization on Food Crop participation by small-scale cotton farmers’,
Input Use and Productivity in Kenya. Office of Agrekon, 47(4), pp. 451–469.
Sustainable Development; Policy Synthesis for
USAID-Africa Bureau, pp. 41.

@ IJTSRD | Unique Paper ID – IJTSRD59881 | Volume – 7 | Issue – 6 | Nov-Dec 2023 Page 350