Econometric Analysis of Access to Agricultural Extension Workers’ Service and its Implication on Crop Yield in Tigray Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Agricultural extension workers' service has been placed as the central pattern of agricultural transformation in general and smallholder farmers in particular. Due largely to this commensurately known trend, identifying factors that determine farmers' access to extension workers' service and the effect of the service on crop yield was found to be imperative. Cross sectional data was collected through semi-structured questionnaire administered on 270 randomly selected smallholder farmers. While analyzing the data, descriptive statistics and econometric models basically Binary logistic and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression models were employed. Regression results revealed that access to agricultural extension workers' service was determined positively by irrigation use, fertilizer use, off-farm activities participation, membership to a certain association, education and tropical livestock unit; whereas gender, age and land size carried a negative sign. The regression result also revealed that agricultural extension workers' service has a positive but insignificant effect on crop yield where no significant crop yield difference have been seen between the visited and non-visited farm households. As per the findings, it is recommended that extension workers need to be financed jointly by the regional government and farmers themselves; thereby extending their roles and responsibilities to the extent of checking farmers at their farm land; and there is a need to solve the fusion of political and agricultural tasks that extension worker are doing.