Abstract

White haricot bean is a major source of food (protein) and income for the rural households of Ethiopia. Nationally, it is among the major pulse crops used for export. Despite its contribution, adoption of white haricot beans variety is very low. With this backdrop, this study analyzed the determinants of the decision to adopt and intensify the adoption of white haricot beans. A sample of 394 farm households were selected randomly proportional to their size in each sampled village. A double hurdle model is used to analyze the data. The findings reveal that the decision to adopt white haricot beans variety is influenced positively by frequency of extension visits, land size allocated to haricot beans, agricultural income, price perception, training obtained  and perception on fertility enhancement benefit of the crop, and negatively by distant to market, ownership of haricot beans farm land (tenure) and nutritional perception of the crop. The intensity of adoption of white beans is affected negatively by the number of dependents in the household, ownership of haricot beans land (tenure) and positively by non-farm income and contact with non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The study recommends that appropriate measures should be taken to strengthen the extension services, provision of related trainings, improvement of existing infrastructures, family planning, more involvement of other NGOs (stakeholders) in the area, provision of the required inputs in time and quantity, and measures to reduce risks on output (loss) and market price in order  to promote the adoption of white haricot beans in general.

Key words: White haricot beans, technology, decision to adopt, intensity of adoption, double hurdle model.