IMPACT OF IMPROVED ONION (Allium cepa L.) TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION ON SMALLHOLDER FARMERS’ INCOME AND DIETARY DIVERSITY IN DEBUB ARI DISTRICT OF SOUTH OMO ZONE, SNNPRS ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Onion is among the edible Alliums and most popular vegetables of major economic and dietary importance in Ethiopia. The government is attempting to increase household income and dietary diversity by promoting the adoption of improved onion varieties. In the Debub Ari district, however, there is no solid evidence for the adoption and impact of improved onion varieties on income and dietary diversity. As a result, the research was carried out to determine the factors that influence smallholder farmers' adoption of improved onion varieties and to assess the impact of improved onion varieties adoption on smallholder farmers' income, and dietary diversity. in the study area. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 267 representative sample households (121 adopters and 146 non-adopters) for this study. A semi-structured interview schedule, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews were used to gather primary data. The secondary data was gathered via reviewing a variety of documents. A logit model was used to analyze the data and determine the factors that influence the adoption of improved onion varieties. Age, education level, dependence ratio, access to credit service, access to non/off-farm activities, distance to the nearest market, frequency of extension contacts, and access to irrigation are among the 14 independent variables that influence the adoption of improved onion varieties. To estimate the average treatment effect on the treated in this study, a Propensity Score matching model using kernel matching algorithm and bandwidth estimator (0.1) was chosen. The adoption of enhanced onion varieties had a substantial favorable average effect on total annual income (26,508.01birr), dietary diversity (2.18 score), and food consumption (10.36 score) of treatment over control, according to the findings. Contents identified major constraints and opportunities of improved onion production. It revealed that, adoption of improved onion varieties is crucial in improving farmers’ income and dietary diversity. As a result, the study recommends that the local government and other key stakeholders should promote the improved onion varieties to help non-adopter smallholder farmers.