Abstract:
Linking farmers to high-value markets continue to be a viable option for breaking
the food insecurity. Many studies have emphasized on factors determining
smallholders’ participation in high-value markets. Previous studies have
methodological limitations since they neglected the associated effects on food
security. Therefore, the purpose this study was to fill a knowledge gap by
investigating the factors influencing smallholder avocado farmers’ participation in
high-value markets and how it impacts households’ food security in the Aleta
chuko district, Ethiopia. The primary data was collected from randomly selected
389 avocado producers using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics,
inferential statistics, and propensity score matching model were used to analyze
the data. The result of the binary logit model revealed that the participation of
avocado producers in a high-value market was influenced by age, educational
status, the quantity of avocados sold, and price of avocado and market information.
The ATT estimation of PSM model indicated that Avocado producers who
participated in high-value market channels have higher food security status (by
4.3–4.8%) compared to those who were not. Thus, this study suggested that
concerned bodies in Ethiopia should encourage more households to participate in
the high-value markets.
