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Does water harvesting irrigation technologies induce fertilizer use among smallholders? Evidence from Ethiopia
1. Does water harvesting irrigation
technologies induce fertilizer use among
smallholders? Evidence from Ethiopia
[Agricultural systems 114(1): 54-63]
ESSP-IFPRI Workshop on:
Sustainable Land and Watershed
Management Interventions and Impact
May 10, 2013
2. Motivation
Crop production in Ethiopia: largely rain-
fed (~ 95% of the cultivated land)
Rainfall shortage, unpredictability:
production risk
Consequences: food shortage, poverty
Ethiopia implemented several programs
to improve food security since 1970s
Community soil-water conservation; R&D
to increase yield (e.g. seed varieties from
EARO)
1/15
3. motivation…
But, could not succeed to bring radical
changes on yield. Yield is low even by SSA
standard. Why is the low yield?
low modern input use (e.g. low fertilizer
use: (39% in 2007/08, Spielman et al 2011)
Various factors precondition the use of
fertilizer (e.g. price, access/SS, water)
Rainfall shortage could be a reason for the
ineffectiveness of fertilizer & the
improved seed varieties from R&D
2/15
4. motivation…
To remedy rainfall shortage (reduce
weather risk), WHTs introduced 2000s
WHTs has several advantages:
affordable, locatable, individually
owned, fit to the tenure system
If so, does WHTs induce the use of
modern input e.g. fertilizer?
3/15
6. motivation…
Previous studies: focused on non-water
factor/inputs (e.g. fertilizer price)
Especially, microeconomic studies neglected
the interaction between water use and
fertilizer use (requires explicit investigation)
5/15
7. Objective
Investigate if the use of water harvesting
induces the use of fertilizer use by
smallholder farmers;
See if fertilizer use stimulates the use of
WH; and, the other way round as well
6/15
8. Theoretical highlight
Microeconomic theory: Input demand is a
function of input and output prices
In developing countries: imperfect market
and weather risk (e.g. Sadoulet & de Janvry)
So, fertilizer demand depends not only on
its price and other factors
Von Liebig’s Agronomic principle of Law
of the Minimum (de Wit; Paris: 1992)
Theory of technology adoption and the
agronomic principle (control the timing of
fertilizer application) again: joint adoption 7/15
9. Methods
Descriptive analysis: No. of fertilizer user and
non user households-(than the fert. quantity)
Econometric analysis:
a) analyzing the effect of WHT on
fertilizer use: RE probit with WH
dummy, conditional on other factor
b) Analyzing the joint adoption of WHT
and fertilizer: bivariate probit model
(simultaneous equation)
Data: panel data- 2005 & 2010 (400hhs)
8/15
10. Results
9/15
Users of fertilizer Non-
users of
fertilizer TotalOnly on
irrigated
plots
On both
irrigated &
rain-fed
plots
Only on
rain-fed
plots
Year 2005
Users of WHTs 12 33 102 185 332
Non-users of
WHTs
- - 15 53 68
Total 12 33 117 238 400
Year 2010
Users of WHTs 6 51 119 59 235
Non-users of
WHTs
- - 90 75 165
Total 6 51 209 134 400
11. results…
The RE estimate indicated that:
WHTs increase the probability of using
fertilizer (in any of the estimates)
Significant parameter estimates
(positive marginal effect of WHT)
In the estimate that tested joint adoption:
Past WHT use increases the probability
of current fertilizer use but past fertilizer
use does not affect current WHT use;
10/15
12. results…
Farm-size, farm capital, education:
increase the probability of using
fertilizer but fertilizer price, distance to
market decrease
Market, perennial, education, distance
to water source affect adoption of WHT
On the other hand, the hypothesis that
fertilizer use induces the use of WHTs is
rejected
11/15
15. Conclusions
Low fertilizer use rate (39%) might not
only be due to price and other
conventional factors
Water as a precondition to modern input
use is critically important
The affordable, replicable and locatable
WHTs induce fertilizer use, in line with
both the agronomic & economic
principles
14/15
16. conclusions…
To lift the low fertilizer use rate,
encourage irrigation, (similar to other
both developed and developing
countries’ experiences) e.g….
To sustain the WHTs: Role of R&D, PS,
the govt., NGOs, local institutes, farmers
The effect of road infrastructure and
education: urge the need to continue
with the investments
15/15