Hailemariam Teklewold

• PhD
• Research Associate at Policy Studies Institute

We examine how the choice of seed technology—between traditional and improved varieties—impacts crop revenue and the cost of risk in a setting characterized by high uncertainty. The methodological approach combines computation of crop revenue and cost of risk based on moment‐based approximation of a stochastic production function, with a selection‐...

One of the questions that Peter proposed for his memorial conference was “What happens to agricultural yields when farms are relatively autarkic and use animals? For instance, how is yield affected when each farm has to produce its own animal feed? How can this help explain why African yields are so much lower than American?”

Understanding the human-forest relationship is key to sustainable development and forest management. The increase of agricultural land expansion mainly focuses on satisfying the competing interest amongst stakeholders and rural households, which neglects the impact of forest losses. The study looked at rural households' farmland expansion dynamics...

Gender-based intra-household resource distributions constitute an important role in technology adoption-related decisions. Using a non-unitary household model and fitting an empirical adoption model for men and women individually and jointly, we examine how gender-based ownership, management and control of resources are correlated with adoptions of...

This paper examines how smallholder farmers are differentially affected by agricultural expansion in their communities and landscapes. Contributing to the debate on intensification versus expansion, and implications for sustainability, we employ mixed methods research with smallholders in four communities in Ghana and Ethiopia to explore the impact...

We investigate the role of productive safety net program (PSNP) and its modes of benefit transfer in vulnerability to nutritional outcomes in rural households of Ethiopia. We model a panel switching regression in a counterfactual framework to account unobserved individual heterogeneity. We find an inverse relationship between PSNP participation and...

In Ethiopia, a rapidly growing population, widespread poverty, unemployment, low agricultural productivity and a lack of alternative income sources mean that rural people often expand agricultural land into forested areas, leading to loss of ecosystem services. There is an urgent need for policymakers to strike a balance between increasing food pro...

For smallholder subsistence farmers, it is difficult to undertake adequate ex-ante strategies to prepare for shocks. These households are forced to attempt multiple ex-post coping strategies such as consuming less preferred food, limiting food diversity and reducing the size of meals. The literature on consumption has generally overlooked the poten...

The Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) in Ethiopia is a multifaceted investment program supporting agricultural productivity and the commercialization of smallholder farmers. The AGP is expected to positively affect household food security by increasing agricultural productivity and production. The extent to which the AGP has affected farmers’ econo...

This paper addresses a gap in understanding how pollination services and disrupting existing cropping patterns affect nutrition production and supply at the household level in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The specific objectives are to assess: (1) the contribution of pollinator-dependent crops and land reallocation to nutrition production and supply;...

Open access post-harvest in situ grazing is widespread in areas where a mixed crop-livestock system is common. Where this is not discouraged, because livestock is important, conservation agriculture, which depends on keeping the soil surface covered with crop residues is unlikely to be implemented. One way to reduce open access grazing is through r...

This study investigates the effects of combinations of climate smart agricultural practices on risk exposure and cost of risk. We do this by examining the different risk components — mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis — in a multinomial treatment effects framework by controlling weather variables for key stages of crop growth. We found that ado...

Understanding the process that underpins the effective and equitable adoption of modern crop varieties remains an imperative for agricultural development in Africa. This study examines gender differences in adoption rates and determinants of the decision to adopt drought-tolerant (DT) and non-drought-tolerant (ND) maize varieties, based on analysis...

Since the beginning of the decade, climate resilient green economy strategies have been proposed in many African countries. One of the pillars of the strategies is the adoption and diffusion of various climate smart agricultural practices for improving crop and livestock production and farmer income while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The effe...

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of crop diversification (CD), as a climate change adaptation strategy, on farm household’s welfare in terms of farm income and demand for labor. It explores whether adoption of CD is a win-win strategy on household income and demand for on-farm labor. It also examines the determinants of rural househol...

We use the concepts of riskscapes and risk governance to analyze the tensions between land use for food (farms) and energy (dams) in South West Ethiopia. We analyze the linkages between risk perception, risk assessment and risk management for local and non-local actors. We distinguish, after empirical analysis, as main riskscapes the riskscapes of...

Improving farm-level use of multiple climate change adaptation strategies is essential for improving household food security, particularly against a backdrop of a high risk of climatic shocks. However, the empirical foundation for understanding how farm households choose multiple climate-smart practices is far from being established. In this paper,...

We analyse the impact of intensity of tillage on wheat productivity and risk exposure using panel household-plot level data from Ethiopia. In order to control for selection bias, we estimate a flexible moment-based production function using an endogenous switching regression treatment effects model. We find that tillage has a complementary impact o...

Empirical studies point to reduced tillage as a means to increase yields and reverse land degradation. A relatively neglected avenue of research concerns why farmers increase tillage frequencies. Using household-plot level panel data from the Nile Basin of Ethiopia, this article applies a random effects ordered probit endogenous switching regressio...

There is a paucity of information on conditioning factors that hinder or promote adoption of multiple climate-smart practices and on the synergies among such practices in increasing household resilience by improving agricultural income. This study analyzes how heat, rainfall, and rainfall variability affect farmers’ choices of a portfolio of potent...

Gendered food security gaps between female- and male-headed households (FHHs and MHHs) can be decomposed into two sets of components: those explained by observable differences in levels of resource use, and those due to unobserved differences affecting the returns to the resources used. Employing exogenous switching ordered probit and binary probit...

Employing nationally representative data, we investigate the impact of Sustainable Intensification Practices (SIPs) on farm households’ food security, downside risk and the cost of risk in Malawi. The analysis relies on a flexible moment-based specification of a stochastic production function in a multinomial endogenous switching regression framewo...

The type and combination of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) adopted have a significant effect on agricultural productivity and food security. This study develops a multinomial endogenous switching regression model of farmers' choice of combination of SAPs and impacts on maize income and agrochemicals and family labor use in rural Ethiopia...

The adoption and diffusion of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) has become an important issue in the development-policy agenda for sub-Saharan Africa, especially as a way to tackle land degradation, low agricultural productivity and poverty. However, the adoption rates of SAPs remain below expected levels. This study analyses the factors th...

In a mixed farming system in which farmyard manure (FYM) is considered an important multipurpose renewable resource that can be used to enhance soil organic matter, provide additional income and supply household energy, soil fertility depletion could take place within the perspective of the household allocation pattern of FYM. This paper estimates...

In this article we use data for 900 farm households and 1616 farming plots in Ethiopia to examine the determinants of the probability and the level of adoption by smallholder farmers facing multiple sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs). Estimation is carried out using a multivariate probit and an ordered probit econometric model. Results show...

In crop-livestock mixed farming system where farm yard manure (FYM) is considered as important multi-purpose resource such as source of soil organic matter, additional source of income and household source of energy, soil fertility depletion could takes place within the perspective of the household allocation pattern of FYM. This paper estimates st...

Soil degradation is one of the most serious environmental problems in the highlands of Ethiopia. The prevalence of traditional agricultural land use and the absence of appropriate resource management often result in the degradation of natural soil fertility. This has important implications for soil productivity, household food security, and poverty...

Soil fertility depletion is among the major impediments to sustained agricultural productivity especially in the less developed countries because of limited application of fertilizers. Soil fertility maintenance requires a balanced application of inorganic and organic nutrient sources. This study was conducted on a Vertisol in Ethiopia to determine...

Soil fertility depletion is among the major impediments to sustained agricultural productivity especially in the less developed countries because of limited application of fertilizers. Soil fertility maintenance requires a balanced application of inorganic and organic nutrient sources. This study was conducted on a Vertisol, in which nitrogen is a...

The major objective of this paper is to identify determinants of market prices for cattle, sheep and goat in the export market value chain starting from pastoral markets to export abattoirs and live animal exporters. The study is based on the information generated through a formal survey conducted in the major pastoral livestock markets of Ethiopia...

Hedonic price models were fitted to a sample of 1,397 sheep and 1,293 goats, for which data were collected from nine markets in Ethiopia over a 12-month period. The objective was to determine seasonal and inter-market differences in prices after controlling for the effects on different attributes of the animals, the buyers and the sellers. Results...

The Ethiopian live animal and meat export marketing system is operating in an environment characterized by several constraints that needs the attention and action of the government and other non-governmental development organizations. Despite the reported high livestock population of the country, the major meat and live animal exporters are complai...

In this study we adopted a broader concept of a value chain to assess the constraints and opportunities that underpin the chickpea marketing systems in Ethiopia. We assess the structure and functioning of markets and trade to identify key constraints and weak linkages in the chickpea value chains. We deal with marketing arrangements under imperfect...

This study was conducted to examine the existing conditions in relation to production and marketing of chickpeas in Ethiopia and outlines the major technological and institutional constraints for harnessing market opportunities in the chickpea sub-sector. The study determined variety introduction, market conditions and seed delivery systems based o...

An activity was initiated on enhancing partnerships for transferring technologies to change the traditional approaches to improving village poultry production in Ethiopia by making use of existing commercialization potentials in suitable areas. Farmers in the peri-urban villages of Ada, Akaki and Lume Weredas were selected, trained and provided wit...

The objective of this study was to determine factors influencing the rate and intensity of adoption of poultry technology, assuming the two decisions process were separate. The double-hurdle class of model has been applied in this paper with this important distinction in mind. The model was fitted to a sample of 200 smallholder farmers from east Sh...

Chickpea is one of the main annual crops in Ethiopia both in terms of its share of the total cropped area and its role in direct human consumption. Improvement in productivity and subsequent effective marketing of chickpea produce in potential producing areas can be a major milestone in the fight against poverty in the country. The study has found...

Even though farmyard manure is considered a promising soil fertilizer in many developing countries, the process of soil fertility restoration with farmyard manure is constrained by a multitude of factors. The adoption of a crop-livestock technology could relax these constraints. This paper examines the impact of joint crop-livestock technology on f...

In a crop-livestock mixed farming system where farmyard manure (FYM) is considered to be an important multi-purpose resource of soil organic matter, additional income, and household energy, soil fertility depletion could take place within the perspective of the household allocation pattern of FYM. This paper estimates a system of FYM allocation mod...