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Pesticides are crucial part of agriculture and human health irrespective of their potential risks. The aim of this study is to assess the practices of pesticide uses, benefits, and effects on human health and the environment using survey data collected from 775 farm household in selected areas of Ethiopia. The data are analyzed using descriptive statistics, frequency tables, and OLS regressions. The results show that about 99% of the households surveyed use at least one type of chemical pesticides, while 89%, 93%, 84%, and 15% use specific pesticides, respectively, for the control of weeds, fungi, insects, and rodents in the production of different crops. A substantial number of farmers also use traditional practices and new crop varieties as pest control methods. Conversely, 64% of the respondents perceived some kind of negative effects (poisoning or contamination) to humans, animals, or the environment by the chemical pesticides they have used on their farms. Pesticides are sprayed mostly by male household heads (65%) and sons (21%), who do not take a necessary precaution to reduce chemical hazards despite the partly available training (for 46% households) and extension services (63%). About 44% of the households dispose of expired pesticides on the soil, and 64% either spray on the soil or bury the leftover chemicals. Nevertheless, about 74% claimed that they know how to handle the pesticides; and nearly 90% of the households store the pesticides in places where children cannot access them. The OLS estimation results indicated that households who applied herbicides two times on wheat fields have obtained significantly higher yields (1.6 t/ha) than those who have not used herbicides for wheat production. In addition, those who applied fungicides once, twice, and three times have obtained about 1.4, 1.0, and 1.2 (t/ha) higher wheat yields than those who didn’t use fungicides. Yet, herbicide application frequencies on teff farms have no statistically significant effect on teff yields. Most of the surveyed households have apparently benefited and satisfied with pesticide uses. However, it is imperative to focus on safety measures and management options to reduce the perceived pesticide risks. Establishing consulting service providers and the use of trained workers for spraying could reduce the negative effects of pesticides on human and animal health, and the environment. Furthermore, the traditional (non-chemical) pest control methods in practice among farmers should also be encouraged and promoted. Nevertheless, we suggest further quantification of health and environmental risks. &nbsp

Increasing demand for Moringa stenopetala suggests that great opportunities exist for a supply-side response amongst rural smallholder farmers, especially in Southern Ethiopia. It needs evidence to understand whether or not smallholders farmers participate or if they benefit from participation in these new market opportunities. This study analyzes the welfare impact of smallholder farmers‟ participation in Moringa market (measured in terms of crop income, per-capita annual consumption expenditure and per capita daily calorie intake) in Segen area people zone of Southern Ethiopia. Cross-sectional data from 385 randomly selected smallholder farmers were used in the analysis. Endogenous Switching Regression(ESR) model that accounts for selection bias was used in impact assessment. This was further expanded with the generalized propensity score (GPS) approach to evaluate the effects of level of market participation on the response of the outcome variables. Results from ESR shows that demographic, institutional, socio-economic, and market factors affect participation decision and welfare of the farm households. Overall, Moringa market participation have a positive and significant impact on rural farmers welfare, with substantial differencial impacts between groups. Results from GPS, also shows the same as the welfare of the households has increased with the level of Moringa market participation. Policies aimed at reducing the transaction costs of accessing markets, promoting the tree via different medias, working on rural institution capacity building, encouraging and assisting Moringa associations, designing appropriate support from different stakeholders, encouraging market linkages among diverse market players, and providing farmers with the chance of attending basic education are critical to the improvement of household welfare.

Ethiopia has the potential to increase rice production and productivity, though the present availability of quality seeds falls well below present demand due to many constraints associated with seed production, marketing and delivery system. Consequently, the study has focused to assess the major constraints and opportunities of seed production and marketing for improved rice varieties. For this study purpose, 151 households were randomly drawn from three randomly selected Kebeles in probability proportional to size method in Fogera district of Ethiopia. The research results revealed that rice production is constrained by seed production and marketing bottle-necks; these includes, serious problems in accessing seed and fertilizer at planting time, lack of seed credit access and fair price of fertilizer, poor delivery systems of inputs, lack of access to farmers club and fair seed price. However, willingness of the households to adopt new rice varieties, training about the new varieties and fair grain prices were among the opportunities to the households. Therefore, to solve these problems, decision makers should pursue policies and investments to boost agricultural production and productivity, particularly with respect to the food staple crops like rice that are critical in reducing poverty. Hence, access and availability to improved production technologies orchestrate through production, marketing and delivery of improved seeds., Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Vol 1 No 2 (2015)

This study sought to examine the impact of dairy enterprises on employment creation and income generation in Hadiya zone, Ethiopia. Data were collected from 385 randomly selected household heads, three FGDs participants and five key informants’ interviews. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and propensity score matching. The survey results showed that out of 385 sampled household heads 126 (32.5%) were members and the remaining 259 (67.5%) were non-members of micro and small dairy enterprises. The propensity score matching result shows that being member had significant positive impact on members’ employment creation and income generation. The result revealed that the membership resulted in average increment of household’s annually employment creation by about 4 persons (33.98%) and income generation by Birr 12,339.00 (32.57%). The result showed that membership in dairy enterprises had a significant and positive impact on employment creation and income generation. The impact estimates were found to be insensitive to unobserved selection bias. It is, therefore, essential to expand and strengthen development of dairy enterprises and the membership of households in dairy enterprises to increase employment creation and income generation of members.

This study examines pulse producers’ commercialization using a cross-sectional data obtained from 385 randomly and proportionately selected sampled households from East Gojjam zone, Amhara National Regional State of Ethiopia. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and econometric model to characterize sample households and identify factors affecting pulse output commercialization. The mean commercial index for the sample households was 0.345 which indicates that on average a household sold 34.5% of his/her total pulse produce. As a result, farm households’ output commercialization levels fall in semi-commercial farming system. Two limit Tobit model result indicated that farm households’ crop output commercialization was positively and significantly influenced by access to improved seed, cooperative membership, land size, access to market information and pulse yield and was negatively and significantly influenced by family size and livestock owned. Based on the findings, improved seed/new varieties should be released and accessed to smallholder farmers, deliver market information timely, land owned allocation should be intensified so that smallholder producers can increase their crop output commercialization, strengthening the existing farmers’ cooperatives and finally cut and carry livestock feeding system should be practiced in order to manage farm land properly.

This study aimed at analyzing commodity level determinants of output side market participation of haricot bean based on cross sectional primary data collected from 123 randomly selected haricot bean producers sample households in six kebeles in Misrak Badawacho District, Hadiya Zone, Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Regional State, Ethiopia. The descriptive result indicates about 68 % of haricot bean farmers participated in haricot bean market and on average 5.78 quintal of haricot bean was supplied to the market. The results of the Heckman two stage model indicate that number of oxen owned, access to communication facilities, use of credit, membership in cooperative, household size and distance to all weather road have significant influence on the probability of market participation decision. Whereas, number of equine owned, distance to the nearest market, cultivated land size, perception on lagged market price, use of credit, rent in and shared in farmland, livestock ownership, and inverse mills ratio were found to significantly affect the level of market participation. This implies the need to improve access to communication facilitiesto strengthen market information delivery systems; strengthening institutional arrangement like cooperatives through which farmers can take the advantage of bargaining power in input and output market; to institute productivity improving measures to increase the productivity of haricot bean; and strengthening the rural microfinance system to address the credit needs of farmers so as to enhance the benefit of smallholder farmers from market participation.