ABSTRACT

This study examines the effects of participation in the fruit value chain on small-scale farmers' economic welfare in Ethiopia's Upper-Blue Nile Basin, focusing on apple and mango crops. This household economic welfare is measured by the consumption expenditure approach. Primary data were collected from a random sample of 384 households, 211 of which are fruit value chain participants and the rest are non-participants. The endogenous switching regression model was used to control for selection bias and unobserved heterogeneity. The study finds that the more apple and mango farmers join the value chain, the higher their consumption expenditure becomes. On average, the apple and mango value chain participation increased household consumption expenditure by about 17% and 18.5%, respectively. Overall, the results indicate a positive economic welfare effect of small-scale farmer participation. Hence, supporting small-scale farmers is imperative and a reasonable policy approach to improve their economic welfare in rural Ethiopia.

摘要

本研究考察了参与水果价值链对埃塞俄比亚上青尼罗河流域小农经济福利的影响，重点是苹果和芒果作物。这种家庭经济福利是通过消费支出法来衡量的。主要数据是从 384 户家庭的随机样本中收集的，其中 211 户是水果价值链参与者，其余为非参与者。内生转换回归模型用于控制选择偏差和未观察到的异质性。研究发现，加入价值链的苹果和芒果种植者越多，他们的消费支出就越高。平均而言，苹果和芒果价值链的参与分别使家庭消费支出增加了约 17% 和 18.5%。全面的，结果表明，小规模农民参与具有积极的经济福利效应。因此，支持小农是必要的，也是改善埃塞俄比亚农村经济福利的合理政策方法。