Food-based production of smallholders in northwest Ethiopia: the extent and determinants

Food insecurity and malnutrition remain pressing development challenges in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian agricultural landscape is predominantly characterized by smallholder farmers, who play a strategic role in enhancing the availability of diversified food. Evolving perspectives on nutrition-sensitive agriculture place the sector at the center of food and nutrition security interventions. The objective of this study is to investigate the determinants of smallholder food-based production in northwest Ethiopia. Data were generated from 478 randomly sampled smallholder households using a structured questionnaire from northwest Ethiopia. The analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression models. The results indicate that the average food-based crop production of smallholders per year is 43.53 quintals. Plant-sourced food production is positively affected by the sex of the household head, the number of traction and transport animals owned, irrigation utilization, agricultural extension services, and access to the market. Use of irrigation is found to be important predictor of quantity maximization and diversification of nutrient-dense plant-sourced food groups like vegetables and fruits. On the other hand, on-farm quantity and diversity of animal-sourced food groups are positively influenced by the years of schooling of the head of household, livestock ownership, areas of arable land owned, and market accessibility. The study concludes that promoting irrigation, improved agricultural management practices, and livestock value addition by introducing nutrient-dense animal feeds through nutrition-sensitive agricultural extension services could contribute to on-farm food-based production maximization and diversification.