Is food security enhanced by agricultural technologies in rural Ethiopia?

Degye Goshu*, Belay Kassa & Belay Kassa

Abstract
This paper investigates the interdependence of decisions on the adoption of agricultural technology and the simultaneous interaction between adoption and food security situations of smallholders, using a sample of 260 households from rural Ethiopia. Three agricultural technologies and two food security measures were estimated with simulated maximum likelihood (SML) multivariate probit models to measure the link between the adoption of agricultural technology and food security indicators and to identify their underlying determinants. The simulation results suggest that households’ decisions about the adoption of agricultural technology and their food security situations were strongly and positivity interdependent, with very low likelihood of adoption and food security. The common underlying factors of technology adoption and food security situations were also identified. The results generally imply that a concerted effort is required to enhance household food security through the accelerated introduction and dissemination of appropriate agricultural technologies in rural Ethiopia.