Introduction: Lack of sufficient agricultural information has led smallholders’ to rely on traditional agricultural farming technologies in Sub-Saharan African countries, resulting in low adoption of modern inputs and low yield. Understanding the effect of information dissemination is essential for smallholder farmers in rural areas. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of a randomized agricultural information provision on technology adoption and yield of cassava producers in Sodo Zuria, Offa, and Kindo Koysha Woredas in Wolaita Zone, South Ethiopia Regional Sate.Methods: The study utilized panel data collected in two rounds from 1040 farmers in 2021 and 2023. A Randomized control trial (RCT) design was applied to evaluate the effect agricultural information provision on technology adoption and yields, comparing the results between treatment and control groups. The study employed three related information interventions for beneficiaries of the Ethiopian Rural Productive Safety Net Program: (i) agronomic technical information, (ii) productivity and profitability information, and (iii) pooled information on both treatments.Results and discussion: The study found that agricultural information provision increases the adoption of modern agricultural technologies, land allocated to cassava, and yield. The provision of agricultural information is negatively related to access to media exposure, access to cell phones, and access to infrastructure while positively associated with participation in social groups, farm size, and farm income. Further policy research and evaluation are needed to assess the effectiveness of information intervention in different contexts and settings and factors that influence the improved cassava adoption and yield.

Though the Ethiopian economy is predominantly agriculture-based, the adoption of agricultural technologies has been very low. The results of a previous study had shown that microcredit access was one of the factors affecting the adoption of agricultural technology in Ethiopia. However, its effect has not yet been analyzed at the meta-level. Therefore, this study employed meta-analysis to understand the heterogeneous effect of microcredit access among farmers adopting agricultural technologies. We used subgroup analysis and meta-regression analysis to identify the heterogeneity level of credit access on technology adoption using the random-effects (RE) model. The study observed that there was a positive effect of microcredit access on agricultural technology adoption with a log odds ratio of 1.59. The subgroup analysis revealed a 93.2 % overall variation ($I^2$) with a p-value of 0.000, signifying a significant level of microcredit access within the between-groups heterogeneity of agricultural technology adoption studies conducted in Ethiopia. Notably, this was reflected by the adoption of improved livestock technologies, fertilizers, seed varieties, multiple agriculture, and irrigation technologies, with rates of heterogeneity of 94.9 %, 94.4 %, 94.3 %, 85 %, and 73.8 %, respectively, all with a p-value of 0.000. In addition, the meta-regression analysis results indicate that household experience, distance to the market, and income are significant moderators that affect the technology adoption decisions of farmers in rural Ethiopia. These findings suggest that policymakers should focus on improving the financial facilities and extension systems for rural farmers to enhance the adoption of agricultural technologies to increase production efficiency.

Cassava is a vital food source for Africans and is increasingly gaining status as a cash crop. However, Ethiopian farmers have yet not benefited from cassava marketing. This paper aims to explore the determinants of market participation, intensity, and channel choice of cassava producers in rural Ethiopia. Data were collected from 1040 cassava producers through three-stage random sampling techniques. Double Hurdle Model was employed to estimate the determinants affecting market participation decision and intensity and multivariate probit model (MVP) was employed to estimate the determinants of channel choice decision. The study revealed that market participation decision was positively affected by cell phone use, share of land allocated, and extension support while negatively related to access to credit and negotiating strength of farmers. The intensity of market participation is negatively related to distance to nearby markets while positively related to extension service and the quantity of cassava produced. Market channel choice was negatively affected by cell phone use, access to credit, knowledge of channels, and negotiating strength while positively affected by the share of land under cultivation and the quantity of cassava sold (log). The study suggests cassava producers consider forming an association that increases their bargaining power, increase information searching behavior while the government has to play an active role in advancing rural micro financial institutions to address financial challenge and improving access to market information to boost cassava production and marketing.

Harnessing agricultural technology can serve as a catalyst for progress in Sub Saharan Africa, enabling countries to ensure food insecurity. Inadequate agricultural technologies have caused smallholder farmers to depend heavily on traditional agricultural farming. This context consequently resulted in lower agricultural productivity in the region. To address this gap, this study analyzed the impact of the randomized adoption of improved cassava varieties on the welfare outcomes among cassava producing farmers in South Ethiopia. The study applied three round panel data collected from 1040 cassava producers between 2020 and 2024, who were the beneficiaries of the Rural Ethiopian Safety Net Program. The study employed three complementary adoption interventions among cassava producing farmers: (i) agronomic technical training, (ii) agronomic technical training plus improved varieties, and (iii) agronomic technical training plus improved varieties plus fertilizer. The study employed a difference-in-differences (DiD) estimator and two-stage instrumental variable (IV) models for data analysis. Moreover, the study compared the intent-to-treat (ITT) and treatment-on-treated (TOT) effects to estimate their effectiveness in estimating adoption likelihoods, intensity of adoption, and welfare impacts. The study revealed a positive and significant impact of the treatments on the probability of adopting the Hawassa-04 variety and its intensity. Similarly, the welfare outcome results of the ITT and TOT effects indicate that the treated households had shown an increase on consumption expenditure per capita, income per AEU, and the probability of food security compared with those of the control group. The finding of this study suggests implementing incentive-based interventions like providing farmers with robust technical training packages, subsidized improved cassava varieties, and fertilizer can significantly increase cassava production and well-being of the farming community.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e35859.].