The rapid-but from a low base-uptake of agricultural mechanization in Ethiopia: Patterns, implications, and challenges

cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centreen
cg.contributor.crpPolicies, Institutions, and Markets
cg.coverage.countryEthiopia
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ET
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africa
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionSub-saharan Africa
cg.creator.identifierGuush Berhane: 0000-0002-1947-9483
cg.creator.identifierBart Minten: 0000-0002-2183-1845
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293809_10en
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Development Strategy and Governance Division
cg.identifier.publicationRankA
cg.placeWashington, DCen
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen
dc.contributor.authorBerhane, Guushen
dc.contributor.authorDereje, Mekdimen
dc.contributor.authorMinten, Barten
dc.contributor.authorTamru, Seneshawen
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-22T12:11:10Zen
dc.date.available2024-05-22T12:11:10Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/142846
dc.titleThe rapid-but from a low base-uptake of agricultural mechanization in Ethiopia: Patterns, implications, and challengesen
dcterms.abstractThe uptake of agricultural mechanization in Ethiopia is low, with less than 1 percent of agricultural plots plowed with a tractor. However, in recent years the uptake of agricultural machinery has accelerated. We note an impressive increase in imports of combine harvesters and of tractors, seemingly associated with the increasing costs of agricultural labor and animal traction, for which agricultural mechanization can substitute. We estimate that a quarter of the area in Ethiopia planted with wheat—the fourth most important cereal in the country—is currently harvested by combine harvesters, and they are widely used in the major wheat-growing zones in the southeast of the country in particular. Private mechanization service providers have rapidly emerged. Smallholders in these wheat-growing zones rely heavily on agricultural machinery rental services for plowing, harrowing, and harvesting. We find that mechanization is associated with significantly lower labor use, and that the adoption of combine harvesters—but not tractors—is significantly associated with higher yields, seemingly due to lower postharvest losses. Although further expansion of mechanization in the country is desired given the environmental and financial costs of holding oxen, and the higher yields linked with some forms of mechanization, it appears to be hampered by farm structures, particularly small farm sizes and consequent limits in scale; fragmented plots; crop diversity; physical constraints, such as the presence of stones, steep fields, and certain soil types; and economic and financial constraints, including limited access to foreign exchange and credit, and the still relatively low wages in less commercialized zones.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationBerhane, Guush; Dereje, Mekdim; Minten, Bart; and Tamru, Seneshaw. 2020. The rapid-but from a low base-uptake of agricultural mechanization in Ethiopia: Patterns, implications, and challenges. In An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?, eds. Xinshen Diao, Hiroyuki Takeshima, and Xiaobo Zhang. Part Four: African Countries, Chapter 10, Pp. 329-375. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293809_10.en
dcterms.extent50 p.en
dcterms.isPartOfAn evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?en
dcterms.issued2020-11-01
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.publisherInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen
dcterms.relationhttps://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293809en
dcterms.relationhttps://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293823en
dcterms.replaceshttps://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll2/id/134097en
dcterms.subjecttractorsen
dcterms.subjectimportsen
dcterms.subjectpoliciesen
dcterms.subjectsurveysen
dcterms.subjectequipmenten
dcterms.subjecttechnologyen
dcterms.subjectfarmersen
dcterms.subjecthouseholdsen
dcterms.subjectdemanden
dcterms.subjectlabouren
dcterms.subjectagricultureen
dcterms.subjectharvestersen
dcterms.subjectharvestingen
dcterms.subjectagricultural mechanizationen
dcterms.subjectmechanizationen
dcterms.subjectremunerationen
dcterms.subjectrural areasen
dcterms.subjectfarm sizeen
dcterms.subjectgovernanceen
dcterms.typeBook Chapter

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