Abstract:
Government policy strategies, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), are aimed at increasing
agricultural productivity, which could lead to improved household food security and increased farm
income. In Ethiopia, the situation is similar. Hence, understanding smallholder farmers' low and
variable crop yields has been a central research and policy priority in addressing food security. This
study, therefore, aims at assessing adoption and impact of improved maize varieties on maize
productivity and food insecurity in Amuru district of Horo Guduru Wollega, Ethiopia. The study
utilized cross-sectional household level data collected in 2020/2021 from 263 randomly selected
sample households. Both descriptive and econometric methods were used to analyze the data.
According to the results of descriptive statistics of continues explanatory variables, there was a
statistically significant difference in age of household head, education of household head, size of farm
land, family size, livestock owned and market distance between adopters and non-adopters of IMVs.
Likewise, the results of discrete independent variables show that sex of household head, information
from government agent, and information from farmers association, access to credit and access to
training was statistically significant association with adoption of IMVs. The results of the probit model
show that adoption of the improved maize varieties among households was found to be positively
influenced by education level of the household head, total livestock owned, access to credit, access to
training, farm size, access to information from extension agent and access to information from farmers
association whereas family size and market distance influenced adoption negatively. Moreover, the
results obtained from the endogenous treatment effect model indicated that the adoption of IMVs not
only generated a significantly positive impact on household calorie intake and net crop value, but it
also reduced food insecurity. The results from this study revealed that IMVs adoptions significantly
contribute to the economic and social development of smallholder farmers by improving average
calorie intake and net crop values as well as by reducing food insecurity. Therefore, it is recommended
that governments and non-governmental organizations should encourage the adoption of improved
maize varieties on a wider scale to increase maize production and reduce food insecurity in rural
households. This is critical in realizing the IMVs potential among maize producers in the study area.
