The Contribution of adopting transformational farming practices on smallholder food security: The Case of Central Ethiopia

Ethiopia adopted a transformative agricultural development policy aimed at reducing the farm productivity gap through introducing improved agricultural technologies. This study investigated the effect of farm transformational status on household food security. It was conducted in the central Oromia region, where data were collected from 422 sampled farm households via multistage sampling techniques. Both descriptive and econometric models were employed for data analysis. The results indicate that 52.61% of the farmers in the study area have an acceptable food security profile, 39.34% are classified as borderline, and 8.06% have poor food consumption profiles. The food consumption score varies significantly by household age and district, with higher scores associated with a more diversified diet. The dummy index for farm transformation revealed that 56.6% of households had a low transformational status, whereas 43.4% had a high transformational status. The results of the instrumental variable regression model indicated that market-oriented production positively and significantly influences the status of farm transformation. The 2SLS analysis revealed that the status of farm transformation, frequency of extension contacts and access to information on healthy and nutritional food production significantly and positively affect food security. Conversely, income and distance from the nearest market negatively and significantly impact food security. In conclusion, the findings suggest that adopting transformational agricultural practices at the farmer level can improve access to and availability of food. However, scaling up these practices across larger smallholder farmers is essential for achieving sustainable food production.