Determinants of maize commercialization in Southwestern Ethiopia: agro-ecology-based analysis

Crop commercialization supports economic development through transforming subsistence nature of agricultural production into market based production system. Commercial agriculture serves as a tool for economic transformation by shifting agricultural production from subsistence to market-oriented farming. The study was aimed at analyzing determinants of maize commercialization in Southwestern Ethiopia. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources were used for this study. Smallholder maize producers located in Bunno Bedelle zone was the target population for this study. Using random sampling techniques, 382 smallholder maize producers were selected at 95% confidence interval. Descriptive and inferential statistics as well as econometric estimation were used to analyze data. Results show that there was significant difference between agro ecologies in maize commercialization. Household maize commercialization index was 66.39%. Majority (81%) of smallholder maize producers were maize market participant and only 19% of them were not participant. This indicates majority of farmers were maize market participant especially in low land areas. Double Hurdle estimation result shows that gender of household head, household size, productivity of maize, livestock holdings, quantity produced, amount consumed and distance from market center affected producers' probability of maize market participation. Land allocated for maize production, productivity of maize, amount of maize consumed, non-farm income, access to extension contact, credit use and distance from market center affected quantity of maize supplied to the market. So, it is better if office of agriculture effectively works on how to transform maize production from its subsistence nature to market based production system through coordinating farmers' socioeconomic and institutional characteristics.