Abstract:
Agriculture is main livelihoods for the millions of poor people to sustain life and improvement of
living standards. An adoption of organic fertilizer is minimal in most regions of Ethiopia,
including the study area. Therefore this study aimed to identify socio-economic factors that
determine the adoption and use of organic fertilizer among smallholder farm households in the
study area. The study was conducted in Ejere district in West Showa zone of Oromia region. The
study uses a cross sectional design. Representative farm 278 households were interviewed through
personal interview. Multi-stage sampling techniques were used. Descriptive statistical analysis
such as mean, standard deviation, were used to describe the socioeconomic, demographic,
institutional, and other factors of the sample households. The double hurdle model was used to
determine factors affecting organic fertilizer adoption and use intensity. Accordingly the result
showed that the mean age of both organic fertilizer users and non-users was 41.81 and 43.95
years, respectively. Among organic fertilize users, the average household size was about 4.87
and about 4.25 among non-users. Result of double hurdle model analysis showed that family size
enhances smallholder farm households’ likelihood of organic fertilizer adoption. Dependency
ratio decreased smallholder farm households’ likelihood of adopting organic fertilizer.
Smallholder farm households with more livestock owners are more likely to use organic fertilizer
than those have less or no livestock. This indicates that farm households with less or no livestock
are less likely to use organic fertilizer Farm experience raised the likelihood that smallholder
farm households would adopt organic fertilizer; as a result extension agents and other
development partners should support these seasoned smallholder farm households by teaching
them on how to spread awareness of the adoption and level of use of organic fertilizer to the
other smallholder farm households in their respective kebeles in the district that have not
experienced.
