Market Chain for Cereal and Pulse Crops in North Shewa Zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study provides empirical analysis on the market chain for cereal and pulse crops by measuring profit of rural farming households in North Shewa Zone of Oromia Regional State, (Ethiopia). Marketing problem of agricultural products happens because of internal and external problem of the farmer. The purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence on the market chain in the area. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 393 sample farming households. Additionally, 20 merchants, 10 government employees and 1 Salale Union worker respondents were included in the study. The mixed research method employed to make the result more fruitful. Some descriptive analysis and Logistic regression were used for the econometric part. Even if some independent variables are insignificant, result of the model shows that market chain positively affects the profitability of the farmer. The areas with market chain for both agricultural input and agricultural product have relatively high profits. Farmers who use agricultural inputs from market cooperatives and sell their crops to the cooperatives are highly productive and more profitable. These results confirm that market chain contributes directly for improving the profitability of rural farming households, and hence scaling up the trading among farmers. Minimizing marketing problem and increasing awareness, financial access and road access for farmer by concerned local government institutions and nongovernmental organizations were recommended to improve farmers’ profitability.