Impact assessment of aquaculture intervention on the households` income in aquaculture potential areas of Oromia regional state, Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the determinants and impact of participating in aquaculture activities on households’ income at aquaculture potential areas of Oromia region. Districts were selected using purposive sampling techniques.The four stage sampling technique were used to select 167 target respondents. The primary data were collected using an interview schedule, conducting focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The logit model was employed to identify the determinants of participation in aquaculture activities while propensity score matching techniques were used to quantify the impact. The result of the Logit model shows that four variables (education level of household head, access to credit services, access to water source and annual farm income of household head) have a strong significant effect on the variable of interest at 1% and 5% significance level. The Propensity score matching result revealed that involvement in aquaculture production activities had a significant effect (15,411 ETB) on household income at 5% significance level. Major constraints of participation in aquaculture activities such as high cost of fish feed and lack of it`s availability, skill and knowledge gap,Lack of improved fish seed and aquaculture technology, lack of access to water source and shortage of fishing equipment and training for fishers were identified in the study area. To ensure long-term sustainability of aquaculture sector, efforts should have to focus on raising awareness on aquaculture activities and advancing research in aquaculture production, environmental and water source management.