Farm size and agricultural productivity of nutritious foods: Evidence from Ethiopia

Agri-food systems are transforming quickly in Africa. An important issue in the transformation process of agricultural production is the role of small farms. While many authors have looked at this question, one aspect that has received little attention is the role of small farms in the production of...

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Autores principales: Ameye, Hannah, Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane, Minten, Bart, Tamru, Seneshaw
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Wiley 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/170098
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author Ameye, Hannah
Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane
Minten, Bart
Tamru, Seneshaw
author_browse Ameye, Hannah
Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane
Minten, Bart
Tamru, Seneshaw
author_facet Ameye, Hannah
Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane
Minten, Bart
Tamru, Seneshaw
author_sort Ameye, Hannah
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Agri-food systems are transforming quickly in Africa. An important issue in the transformation process of agricultural production is the role of small farms. While many authors have looked at this question, one aspect that has received little attention is the role of small farms in the production of nutritious foods, an important topic given the low availability and relatively high prices of nutritious foods and the consequent low level of nutrition security in the continent. Using a unique large-scale dataset from Ethiopia—one of the largest countries in Africa that has been transforming rapidly—we look at the production of vegetables and dairy products. We find a strong association between farm size and partial productivity measured in terms of output, value of outputs and profit per hectare/cow, with productivity twice to four times as high for larger farms. These farms have substantially higher input expenditures as well as differences in farm technologies compared to small ones. Our findings have important implications for the debate on the role of small farms and nutritional improvements in the continent. JEL Classification: O13, Q12, Q18
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spelling CGSpace1700982025-07-08T13:51:05Z Farm size and agricultural productivity of nutritious foods: Evidence from Ethiopia Ameye, Hannah Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane Minten, Bart Tamru, Seneshaw agricultural productivity farm size nutrition small farms Agri-food systems are transforming quickly in Africa. An important issue in the transformation process of agricultural production is the role of small farms. While many authors have looked at this question, one aspect that has received little attention is the role of small farms in the production of nutritious foods, an important topic given the low availability and relatively high prices of nutritious foods and the consequent low level of nutrition security in the continent. Using a unique large-scale dataset from Ethiopia—one of the largest countries in Africa that has been transforming rapidly—we look at the production of vegetables and dairy products. We find a strong association between farm size and partial productivity measured in terms of output, value of outputs and profit per hectare/cow, with productivity twice to four times as high for larger farms. These farms have substantially higher input expenditures as well as differences in farm technologies compared to small ones. Our findings have important implications for the debate on the role of small farms and nutritional improvements in the continent. JEL Classification: O13, Q12, Q18 2025-06 2025-01-27T15:37:44Z 2025-01-27T15:37:44Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/170098 en Open Access Wiley Ameye, Hannah; Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane; Minten, Bart; and Tamru, Seneshaw. 2025. Farm size and agricultural productivity of nutritious foods: Evidence from Ethiopia. Journal of Agricultural Economics 76(2): 296-337. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12621
spellingShingle agricultural productivity
farm size
nutrition
small farms
Ameye, Hannah
Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane
Minten, Bart
Tamru, Seneshaw
Farm size and agricultural productivity of nutritious foods: Evidence from Ethiopia
title Farm size and agricultural productivity of nutritious foods: Evidence from Ethiopia
title_full Farm size and agricultural productivity of nutritious foods: Evidence from Ethiopia
title_fullStr Farm size and agricultural productivity of nutritious foods: Evidence from Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Farm size and agricultural productivity of nutritious foods: Evidence from Ethiopia
title_short Farm size and agricultural productivity of nutritious foods: Evidence from Ethiopia
title_sort farm size and agricultural productivity of nutritious foods evidence from ethiopia
topic agricultural productivity
farm size
nutrition
small farms
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/170098
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