Abstract:
Haricot bean is an important pulse crop that plays a vital role in the livelihood of smallholder farmers and the national economy in Ethiopia. This study was initiated to analyze haricot bean market chain in Guba Koricha District, West Hararghe Zone of Oromia National Regional State with the objectives of identifying haricot bean market chain actors, their functions and marketing channels, analyzing structure, conduct and performance of haricot bean market and examining determinants of farmers’ extent of participation in haricot bean market in the study area. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. Primary data were collected from 138 randomly selected haricot bean producers and 29 purposively selected traders through a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Secondary data were collected from different sources such as CSA, GKDANRO and FAOSTAT. Both descriptive and econometric analyses were undertaken on the collected data. The major haricot bean market chain actors are farmers, primary cooperatives, cooperatives union, village collectors, wholesalers and exporters. Three haricot bean marketing channels were identified in the study area. Result from SCP analysis indicated that the haricot bean market in the district were uncompetitive and inefficient mainly due to entry barrier, lack of market transparency, oligopolistic structure, uncompetitive pricing practices and absence of vertical coordination. The result of the Tobit model also indicated that land size, farming experience, livestock holding, haricot bean yield, family labour, education level, lagged selling price, access to all-weather road, credit access and access to market information has significant positive effects on haricot bean market supply while distance to the nearest market center have a significant negative effect. The study recommended strengthening market information system, improving credit system, increasing productivity of haricot bean, and improving market infrastructures in order to increase production and marketed quantity of haricot bean as well as to make haricot bean market more competitive and efficient
