THE DETERMINANTS OF WOMEN’S VEGETABLE PRODUCERS ACCESS TO AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES IN HARAMAYA DISTRICT, OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Evidence shows that agricultural extension is one of the institutional services that have a central role in the transformation process of the agricultural sector. Women account for 50 percent of the population and are the main workforce in most rural Ethiopia where its economy depends on agriculture. However, women have limited access to agricultural extension services in Ethiopia in general and in the East Harghe zone in particular. This study intended to assess the status and determinants of women's participation in accessing agricultural extension services in vegetable production. The study used multi-stage techniques, combining probability and non-probability samplings to select households. The purposively selected Haramaya Woreda has 33 rural kebeles, stratified into 28 irrigable and 5 non-irrigable kebeles among four such as Damota, Maya lemon, kurro, and sharif-kalid were randomly selected from the irrigable ones for this study; 123 sample households were determined by Yamane formula and they are randomly selected based on each kebele’s population proportion to size. Primary data was collected from sample farmers through structured interviews and focused group discussions. The descriptive statistics analysis result shows that about 46.6% of households had access to agricultural extension service (AES) whereas 53.4% didn’t have access to the same. The Chi-square and t-test were employed to analyze the existence of explanatory variables' influence on the dependent variables and the logit econometric model was used to identify determinants of women's access to AES. Its regression result revealed that sampled households’ education level, family size, total annual farm income, participation in community affairs and women's association, and access to credit were positive while only age negatively and significantly affected women’s access to AES in their vegetable production in the study area. Therefore, kebele and district level and relevant public and NGO agricultural institutions should enhance the determinant factors to improve women farm households’ access to agricultural extension services in the study area and the region in general.