Determinants of urban agriculture market participation decision and intensity in eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

AbstractSmall-scale urban farmers' active involvement in the urban agriculture (UA) output market is one strategy to ease an urban food shortage while sustaining their livelihoods and income. Enhancing market participation and intensity requires identifying the factors that affect UA market participation. Thus, the study aimed to determine the factors influencing UA market participation decisions and intensity in Eastern Ethiopia. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, the study utilized primary data collected from 270 randomly selected urban farmers. The Double Hurdle (DH) Model was used to determine the factors influencing urban farmers' participation and intensity in the UA output market. According to the first stage DH Model results, age, education, occupation, family size, farming experience, UA-related training, dependency ratio, and market information, all had a significant impact on the decision to participate in the UA output market. The second stage DH Model of Truncated regression indicated that the intensity of UA output market participation decision was significantly affected by the education, land size, UA-related training, and market information are all important factors determine the intensity of UA output market participation. Improving the ability to use the land for UA purposes, awareness creation through short-term training, and improving information access are important recommendations to enhance UA output market participation and intensity of participation.