Agrotechnology

Who benefits from collective actions Membership determinants and economic impacts of coffee farmersâ?? cooperatives in Ethiopia

4^th International Conference on Agriculture & Horticulture

July 13-15, 2015 Beijing, China

Dagne Mojo Yadate1, Christian Fischer1 and Terefe Degefa2

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: Agrotechnol

Abstract:

Using household survey data of 305 coffee farmers from Ethiopia, we explore the determinants and impacts of cooperative membership on farmers�?? economic performance. The logit model results reveal that the probability of farmers�?? decision to join cooperatives increases with age, education level, family size and land property. Moreover, owning a TV, eco-certification and relative closeness of cooperatives to bigger city where farmers can easily access information positively affect the likelihood of household decisions to join a cooperative. On the other hand, estimation results using propensity score matching (PSM) show cooperatives have no unique impact on members�?? economic performance and output. However, cooperatives have a positive economic impact on the whole community, regardless of membership. The results suggest that there is need for a mechanism to maximize the benefits of members to keep the cooperatives alive, more attractive and more sustainable.