Publication Type
Journal Article
Publication Date (Issue Year)
2025
Journal Name
Scientific African
Abstract
Cluster farming is the practice of merging neighbouring farms into a unified production unit to grow specific crops collaboratively. This is a promising method to enhance food security by improving agricultural productivity through coordinated resource use and enabling access to inputs, technologies, and markets. Despite this benefit, no empirical studies have examined how malt barley cluster farming affects smallholder farmers’ food security. This study adopts descriptive and econometric analysis, including the endogenous switching regression model (ESRM) and control function approach to account for selection bias and endogeneity in estimating the causal effect of malt barley cluster farming. Cross-sectional data were collected through a household survey of 502 smallholder producer households in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. The results indicate that participation in malt barley cluster farming significantly improves household food security by increasing income through higher yields and improved market access. This enables households to purchase a more diverse foods, leading to a 15.2% increase in HDDS and a 35.1% reduction in HFIAS. However, challenges such as limited machinery access, and potential risks related to monocropping could affect the long-term sustainability of malt barley cluster farming. Thus, it is essential to implement complementary factors to encourage participation decisions in malt barley cluster farming by improving institutional services such as machinery access, credit access, and extension services, facilitating community engagement programs, and promoting cluster farming for a more diverse range of commodities in the study area.
Keywords
Malt barley, Cluster farming, Endogenous switching regression model, Household diet diversity, Household food insecurity access scale
Rsif Scholar Name
Betelhem Tsedalu Adane
Thematic Area
Food security and Agribusiness
Africa Host University (AHU)
University of Ghana (UoG), Ghana
Funding Statement
The authors would like to thank all the enumerators who assisted with the data collection and the respondents who provided data for the study. The principal author expresses appreciation and gratitude to the Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology/Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (PASET-RSIF) for the award of a PhD scholarship to pursue PhD in Applied Agricultural Economics and Policy at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Ghana.
Recommended Citation
Tsedalu Adane, B., Susan Egyir, I., Ebo Onumah, E., Ahene-Codjoe, A. A., & Kim, T. (2025). Effect of malt barley cluster farming on food security in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Scientific African https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2025.e02925