The impact of Ethiopia's direct seed marketing approach on smallholders' access to seeds, productivity, and commercialization

Several factors contribute to the low level of improved variety use in Ethiopia. Among those, on the supply side, is the limited availability of seed in the volumes, quality, and timeliness required by farmers, which is partly a result of limited public and private investment in the sector. Beginnin...

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Autores principales: Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework, Abate, Gashaw T., Yimam, Seid, Benfica, Rui, Spielman, David J., Place, Frank
Formato: Conference Paper
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143008
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author Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Abate, Gashaw T.
Yimam, Seid
Benfica, Rui
Spielman, David J.
Place, Frank
author_browse Abate, Gashaw T.
Benfica, Rui
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Place, Frank
Spielman, David J.
Yimam, Seid
author_facet Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Abate, Gashaw T.
Yimam, Seid
Benfica, Rui
Spielman, David J.
Place, Frank
author_sort Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Several factors contribute to the low level of improved variety use in Ethiopia. Among those, on the supply side, is the limited availability of seed in the volumes, quality, and timeliness required by farmers, which is partly a result of limited public and private investment in the sector. Beginning in 2011, the Government of Ethiopia introduced a novel experiment-the Direct Seed Marketing (DSM) approach-to reduce some of the centralized, state-run attributes of the country’s seed market and rationalize the use of public resources. DSM was designed to incentivize private and public seed producers to sell seed directly to farmers rather than through the state apparatus. This study is the first quantitative evaluation of DSM’s impact on indicators of a healthy seed system: access to quality seeds, on-farm productivity, and market participation of smallholders. Using a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach, the study finds that DSM led to a 26 percent increase in maize yields and a 5 percent increase in the share of maize harvest sold. DSM also led to improvements in seed availability for all three of Ethiopia’s major cereals: maize, wheat, and teff. However, DSM’s effects on yields and share of harvest sold are not statistically significant for wheat and teff. These crop-specific differences in performance are likely explainable by biological differences between hybrid maize and openly pollinated varieties of wheat and teff that incentivize private sector participation in maize seed markets over wheat and teff seed markets. These differences demand different policies and perhaps even institutional approaches to accelerating adoption between hybrids and OPVs.
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institution CGIAR Consortium
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publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
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publisherStr Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
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spelling CGSpace1430082024-11-13T12:23:13Z The impact of Ethiopia's direct seed marketing approach on smallholders' access to seeds, productivity, and commercialization Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework Abate, Gashaw T. Yimam, Seid Benfica, Rui Spielman, David J. Place, Frank seed systems seed quality seeds direct marketing crops maize crop production smallholders marketing seed production productivity commercialization Several factors contribute to the low level of improved variety use in Ethiopia. Among those, on the supply side, is the limited availability of seed in the volumes, quality, and timeliness required by farmers, which is partly a result of limited public and private investment in the sector. Beginning in 2011, the Government of Ethiopia introduced a novel experiment-the Direct Seed Marketing (DSM) approach-to reduce some of the centralized, state-run attributes of the country’s seed market and rationalize the use of public resources. DSM was designed to incentivize private and public seed producers to sell seed directly to farmers rather than through the state apparatus. This study is the first quantitative evaluation of DSM’s impact on indicators of a healthy seed system: access to quality seeds, on-farm productivity, and market participation of smallholders. Using a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach, the study finds that DSM led to a 26 percent increase in maize yields and a 5 percent increase in the share of maize harvest sold. DSM also led to improvements in seed availability for all three of Ethiopia’s major cereals: maize, wheat, and teff. However, DSM’s effects on yields and share of harvest sold are not statistically significant for wheat and teff. These crop-specific differences in performance are likely explainable by biological differences between hybrid maize and openly pollinated varieties of wheat and teff that incentivize private sector participation in maize seed markets over wheat and teff seed markets. These differences demand different policies and perhaps even institutional approaches to accelerating adoption between hybrids and OPVs. 2021-08-03 2024-05-22T12:11:33Z 2024-05-22T12:11:33Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143008 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134247 Open Access Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Abate, Gashaw Tadesse; Yimam, Seid; Benfica, Rui; Spielman, David J.; and Place, Frank. 2021. The impact of Ethiopia's direct seed marketing approach on smallholders' access to seeds, productivity, and commercialization. Presented at the AAEA Annual Meeting in JW Marriott in Austin, United States, August 1-3, 2021. https://purl.umn.edu/312925
spellingShingle seed systems
seed quality
seeds
direct marketing
crops
maize
crop production
smallholders
marketing
seed production
productivity
commercialization
Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Abate, Gashaw T.
Yimam, Seid
Benfica, Rui
Spielman, David J.
Place, Frank
The impact of Ethiopia's direct seed marketing approach on smallholders' access to seeds, productivity, and commercialization
title The impact of Ethiopia's direct seed marketing approach on smallholders' access to seeds, productivity, and commercialization
title_full The impact of Ethiopia's direct seed marketing approach on smallholders' access to seeds, productivity, and commercialization
title_fullStr The impact of Ethiopia's direct seed marketing approach on smallholders' access to seeds, productivity, and commercialization
title_full_unstemmed The impact of Ethiopia's direct seed marketing approach on smallholders' access to seeds, productivity, and commercialization
title_short The impact of Ethiopia's direct seed marketing approach on smallholders' access to seeds, productivity, and commercialization
title_sort impact of ethiopia s direct seed marketing approach on smallholders access to seeds productivity and commercialization
topic seed systems
seed quality
seeds
direct marketing
crops
maize
crop production
smallholders
marketing
seed production
productivity
commercialization
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143008
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