Impact of community-based exclosure to smallholder farmers’ livelihood and their willingness to pay: empirical evidences from Tigrai, Ethiopia

This study assessed farmers’ willingness to pay for privatization of agricultural extension services and examined factors that determine willingness to pay for those services. Multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 240 households. Data were collected using household survey, focus group discussion and key informant interview tools. Data were analyzed using percentage and logit model. Results showed that 58% of the respondents were willing to pay for the privatization of agricultural extension services. Farm size, age, family size, credit access, frequency of extension contact and income were significantly influenced farmers’ willingness to pay for privatization of agricultural extension services. Privatization of agricultural extension services encourages graduates of agricultural sciences to launch consultancy firms and this engenders professional entrepreneurship. Number of visits, socioeconomic, and institutional factors must be given emphasis for privatizing the agricultural extension service in Ethiopia. Moreover, government should launch privatization parallel to the public agricultural extension services Keywords: Agricultural extension service, willingness, privatization. Ethiopia

Download Full-text

Community-Based Microtrade in Support of Small-Scale Farmers in Thailand and Tanzania

The Law and Development Review ◽

10.1515/1943-3867.1148 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andreas Neef ◽

Kei Mizuno ◽

Iven Schad ◽

Pakakrong M. Williams ◽

Franklin Rwezimula

Keyword(s):

Smallholder Farmers ◽

The Elderly ◽

Small Scale ◽

Community Based ◽

Northwestern Tanzania ◽

Depth Analysis ◽

Small Scale Farmers ◽

Participatory Research Methods ◽

The Comparative Study ◽

Small Producers

Drawing on two action-research projects conducted between 2007 and 2011, this paper compares the benefits of pro-poor microtrade arrangements for smallholder litchi growers in northern Thailand and small-scale vanilla growers in northwestern Tanzania. The case studies combine various qualitative and participatory research methods with an in-depth analysis of the underlying social, economic and knowledge networks. Theoretically, our research is grounded in the concept of strategic niche management, which emphasizes networking, experiential learning, and the convergence of expectations among producers, exporters, consumers and supporting agencies. Our findings suggest that community-based microtrade with high-value agricultural products can be particularly beneficial for small producers and marginalized groups, such as women and the elderly. Evidence from the comparative study of the two cases further underscores the importance of external knowledge and innovation intermediaries in the formation of community-based and pro-poor microtrade arrangements. We conclude that long-term knowledge and innovation partnerships need to be established to successfully connect smallholder farmers to international markets and to carefully balance the power differentials among all actors along the supply chain.

Download Full-text