Determinants of smallholder sesame farmers’ decision to participate in non-farm activities in east wollega zone, oromiya region

In regions where agriculture has grown robustly, the rural non-farm economy has typically enjoyed rapid growth. The rural non-farm economy includes a highly heterogeneous collection of trading, agro-processing, manufacturing, commercial and service activities. This study was focused on the investigation of determinants of sesame farmers’ participation in non-farm activities. Descriptive result depicted that only 29.96% of the sampled households were engaged in non-farm activities. The non-farm activities are performed as a complement to agriculture on part time or during the agricultural off-seasons and these include handcraft selling, trading and small construction in rural areas. Econometric result from Probit model revealed that sesame farmers’ participation in non-farm activities is positively and significantly influenced by age of household head, education of household head, family size, number of oxen, distance to extension service and use of fertilizer while negatively and significantly influenced by distance to the nearest market. The efforts of extension agents and agricultural policy makers are needed to boost awareness of smallholder sesame farmers to diversify the sources of income in addition to farm sector which improve livelihood and wellbeing of the farmers.