Impact of adoption of hydroponic fodder production on pastoralist households’ income in Borena, Ethiopia

Abstract This study assesses the adoption of hydroponic fodder production practice and how the adoption impacts pastoralist household income in Borena, Ethiopia. A total of 211 pastoralist households were surveyed and interviewed to collect quantitative data. The data were analysed using econometric models, i.e., binary logistic regression model for adoption, the impacts of adopting hydroponic fodder were evaluated using propensity score matching (PSM), and descriptive statistics. The results of the binary logistic regression model showed that the probability of adopting hydroponic fodder was positively and significantly influenced by gender of the household head, herd size, frequency of contacts by development agents, educational level, participation in training on hydroponic fodder production, and pastoral cooperative membership. However, the possibility of hydroponic fodder being adopted was significantly and negatively impacted by the use of credit services. The PSM score suggested that, in comparison to the control groups, the adoption of hydroponic fodder significantly impacted income of the treatment households. Based on the findings of the study, we recommend that the government and interested parties need to concentrate on raising herd size, increasing the provision of education and the frequency of visit by pastoral development agents, training towards promoting cooperative membership, and raising awareness of local credit use. Overall,, the findings suggested that hydroponic fodder productions have a significant positive impact on pastoral households’ ability to generate additional income.