Dairy product market participation and its impacts on household food security of smallholder farmers in Jimma zone Ethiopia: A PSM approach

This paper investigates the impact of dairy product marketing on household food security in Jimma Zone Ethiopia. A quasi-experimental research design was applied through the use of a cross-sectional data type. In order to identify the study kebeles and 266 respondents, a multi-stage sampling procedure was conducted, and the data was gathered through interview schedules. Descriptive statistics, Binary logit, and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) models were used to analyze the data. From the randomly selected households about 54.9% were participated in milk marketing. The study discovered that family size, livestock size, off-farm engagement, access to dairy input, ownership of crossbreed cows, and cooperative membership significantly and positively influenced dairy product market participation. Conversely, age, education level, and market distance had a negative effect. The results of PSM indicated that dairy product market participation had a positive impact on the household food consumption score and dietary diversity, increasing them by 16.38% and 15.42%, respectively. All in all, the research found that milk market participation has a meaningful effect on household food security, and so measures like Innovations to increase dairy production and productivity, and cooperative membership should be promoted to strengthen the participation of smallholder dairy farmers in the area. The study can offer empirical evidence on the contribution of dairy product market participation to household food security.