The Impact of Improved Beehive on Income of Rural Households: Evidence from Bugina District of Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

Needless to say, increased adoption of modern beehives can improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers whose income largely depends on mixed crop-livestock farming. Owing to this, improved beehives have been disseminated to farmers in many parts of Ethiopia including Bugina district. However, its impact on the farmers income is less investigated. Thus, this study attempts to estimate the impact of adopting improved beehives on rural households’ income and asset holding. Survey data was collected from 350 randomly selected households and analysed using an ESRM. The result has revealed that the adoption of improved beehives has enabled beekeepers to enjoy a higher annual income, and asset formation. On average, improved beehive adopters had earned about 6,077 (ETB^[1]) more money than their counterparts. However, the impact of the adoption would have been larger for actual non-adopters, as reflected in the negative transitional heterogeneity effect of 1792(ETB). The result also has indicated that the decision to adopt or not to adopt improved beehives was subjected to individual self-selection. Improved beehives adoption also caused an increase in households’ fixed assets, and can be used as an alternative poverty reduction strategy.

[1] ETB is the official currency of Ethiopia. In 2019, purchasing power parity for Ethiopia was 10.4 LCU per international dollars.