Determinants of Head Cabbage Marketed Surplus Among Smallholder Farmers in Kofale and Kore Districts, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Fruits and vegetables are highly perishable agricultural produces and their post-harvest loss is great in amount. Producers suffer a huge economic loss due to lack of proper understanding about causes and nature of losses, preservation methods, and transportation and marketing. Cabbage, which is highly nutritious vegetable, is an economically important vegetable in Ethiopia and one of the most widely cultivated vegetables in West Arsi zone especially at Kofale and Kore districts. This study was aimed at analyzing factors determining the volume of head cabbage supplied to the market by smallholder farmers in Kofale and Kore districts, west Arsi zone. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data for this study were collected from 120 randomly selected farmers by using semi-structured questionnaire. A multi-stage random sampling procedure was used to select 120 sample respondents using probability proportional to size. Descriptive statistics and econometric model were used to analyze data. From total quantity of head cabbage produced only 33.48% supplied to the market in the study area. Ordinary least square regression model results showed that seven variables such as Education, head cabbage farming experience, land allocated for head cabbage, head cabbage market price, livestock holding, market information access, and participation in off/non-farm income activities significantly affects the volume of head cabbage supplied to the market. Policy implications drawn from the study findings include the need to improve farmers’ knowledge and experience on head cabbage production and marketing, encouraging adult education through extension service, improving land allocated for head cabbage, and improving market information access to increase volume of head cabbage supplied to the market in the study area. Keywords: Volume of supply, Head cabbage, Ordinary least square model, Kofale and Kore districts