Does guava (Psidium guajava L.) adoption enhance food security and dietary diversity? A neglected fruit crop from northern Ethiopia

Abstract

This paper aimed to examine the impact of guava adoption on food security and dietary diversity of farm households in northern Ethiopia. This study used 384 sample households, of which 184 and 200 were adopters and non-adopters, respectively. We used an endogenous switching regression model (ESR) in the impact evaluation. From the first stage (selection) of model result, factors such as age of household head, farm size, livestock ownership, access to markets, access to irrigation, household income, and access to extension services significantly influences the likelihood of guava adoption. The result of the second stage of the endogenous switching regression model shows that adoption of guava has significantly enhanced household’s food security (calorie intake) and dietary diversity score, by 2.15% and 37.8%, respectively. Furthermore, the positive sign of transitional heterogeneity effect highlights guava adopters had significantly greater food security status and dietary diversity score. Therefore, this study recommends that the regional government of Tigray should give particular attention to resource-poor farmers by strengthening institutional services, thereby fostering guava adoption as a strategic intervention to address food insecurity.