Impact of cluster farming on wheat productivity and net benefit among smallholder farmers in Lemu-Bilbilo and Hetosa districts of Arsi Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract This study focuses on identifying the determinants of cluster farming participation decisions and the impact of cluster farming on smallholder wheat farmer’s productivity in the two districts of Arsi Zone, Ethiopia. The study utilized cross-sectional data and a multistage sampling procedure to select a total of 381 respondents from the two districts of Arsi Zone, Ethiopia. The endogenous switching regression model was employed to achieve the research objectives. The study result indicates that sex of the household head, education level, size of cultivated land, access to training, membership in a farmer's cooperative, access to information and social responsibility of the household head influenced cluster farming participation positively and significantly, while distance from the nearest market had a negative and significant effect on cluster farming participation. Furthermore, the study shows that, if participants had decided not to practice cluster farming, their wheat yield and net benefit would have decreased by 33.57 and 40.08%, respectively. Similarly, had non-participants decided to participate, their wheat yield and net benefit would have increased by 46.79 and 102.49%, respectively. The study recommends that policymakers and development organizations should consider cluster farming as a main strategy to increase smallholder farmer’s productivity. Moreover, the study calls for government and institutional assistance in the areas of education services, training, extension services, infrastructure (particularly access to markets), and cooperative development. Moreover, policy and development measures should address the issue of gender disparities in cluster farming participation.