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 farmersâ?? economic performance. The logit model results reveal that the probability of farmersâ?? 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 membersâ?? 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.