Type | Journal Article - Ethiopian Journal of Science and Technology |
Title | Impact of Radio on Technical Efficiency of Farmers: The Case of Wheat Producing Farmers in Ethiopia |
Author(s) | |
Volume | 7 |
Issue | 1 |
Publication (Day/Month/Year) | 2016 |
Page numbers | 1-15 |
Abstract | This paper examines the effect of radio in improving technical efficiency focusing on wheat producing farmers selected from 61 woredas in Oromia, Amhara, SNNP and Tigray regional states in Ethiopia. Propensity score matching (PSM) approach was used as it is becoming increasingly a standard approach for evaluating impacts using observational data. The study indicated that technical efficiency level is significantly higher for farmers that have radio than those who have not. The use of radio appears to significantly increase the level of technical efficiency as wheat growing farm households who have radio are more efficient by 6% than those that don't have. The study concludes and recommends that using radio could be an effective strategy to improve agricultural efficiency in general and technical efficiency of farmers in particular which indicates the enormous potential of radio for the transformation of Ethiopia's agriculture. |