Policy reforms, soil fertility management, cash cropping and agricultural productivity in Ethiopia

This thesis consists of an introduction and four independent papers. The papers aim at investigating agricultural productivity and factors that affect the performance of agriculture and food security directly or indirectly. Paper I analyses the impacts of economic policies on the productivity and efficency of crop production Results suggest that inefficiency increased after the introduction of policies while technical progress stagnated. As a result, total factor productivity declined during the same period. Paper II deals with fators influencing soil fertility management practices, the use of animal manure and chemical fertilizer, in the highlands of Ethiopia. Results indicate that adoption of chemical fertilizer is positively influenced by animal manure and farm and household characteristics. The results further indicate that adoption of manure and the intensity of use of chemical fertilizer are influenced by farm and household characteristics. Paper III concerns the impacts of perennial cash crops on food crop production and productivity in southern Ethiopia. The food crops are divided into enset and other food crops. Results show that more intensive chat production is associated with lower production and productivity of other food crops while more coffee production is associated with more intensive production of enset. On the other hand, more intensive sugarcane production is associated with reduced production and productivity of other food crops. However, production of coffee has no significant impact on food crops. Paper IV concerns the impact of market liberalizations on prices of crops and livestock. Results suggest that market liberalizations have mixed impacts on prices of grain, cash crop and livestock. Prices have increased in some markets and decreased in others both for crops and livestock. Moreover, grain market liberalization has increased price volatility in price levels and price spreads overall