IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/cfcp15/344395.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Domestic Fuel Choice, Scarcity and Agriculture Labour Supply in Rural Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Bekele, Rahel Deribe
  • Jeuland, Marc
  • Munson, Dylan

Abstract

Rural households in Ethiopia mainly depend on agriculture for their livelihood and most commonly use traditional biomass as their primary domestic energy source. Using data collected from 925 rural households and 3,241 plots in four regions of Ethiopia, this study examines the determinants of fuel choice in rural Ethiopia, and the impact of biomass fuel scarcity on agricultural labor supply, yields,and returns, across the irrigation/dry, Meher, and Belg cropping seasons. We show that the shadow price of biomass energy sources, which are largely collected from the environment, and the market prices of charcoal and kerosene as well as indicators of wealth, are important determinants of households’ fuel choices. Our findings further indicate that the scarcity of biomass fuel, proxied by shadow price, has a negative and significant effect on agricultural labor supply in the irrigation and Belg seasons, which in turn affects yields and returns from agriculture. This suggests the importance of addressing domestic fuel scarcity alongside efforts to enhance agricultural productivity in rural areas, particularly when introducing interventions such as irrigation.

Suggested Citation

  • Bekele, Rahel Deribe & Jeuland, Marc & Munson, Dylan, 2024. "Domestic Fuel Choice, Scarcity and Agriculture Labour Supply in Rural Ethiopia," IAAE 2024 Conference, August 2-7, 2024, New Delhi, India 344395, International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE).
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:cfcp15:344395
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.344395
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/344395/files/22507.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.344395?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jagger, Pamela & Pender, John, 2003. "The role of trees for sustainable management of less-favored lands: the case of eucalyptus in Ethiopia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 83-95, January.
    2. Rasmus Heltberg & Thomas Channing Arndt & Nagothu Udaya Sekhar, 2000. "Fuelwood Consumption and Forest Degradation: A Household Model for Domestic Energy Substitution in Rural India," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 76(2), pages 213-232.
    3. Omarsherif Jemal & Daniel Callo-Concha & Meine Van Noordwijk, 2018. "Local Agroforestry Practices for Food and Nutrition Security of Smallholder Farm Households in Southwestern Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-21, August.
    4. Munir A. Hanjra & Francis Gichuki, 2008. "Investments in agricultural water management for poverty reduction in Africa: Case studies of Limpopo, Nile, and Volta river basins," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(3), pages 185-202, August.
    5. Mekonnen, Alemu & Beyene, Abebe & Bluffstone, Randy & Gebreegziabher, Zenebe & Martinsson, Peter & Toman, Michael & Vieider, Ferdinand, 2022. "Do improved biomass cookstoves reduce fuelwood consumption and carbon emissions? Evidence from a field experiment in rural Ethiopia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    6. Marc A Jeuland & Subhrendu K Pattanayak, 2012. "Benefits and Costs of Improved Cookstoves: Assessing the Implications of Variability in Health, Forest and Climate Impacts," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(2), pages 1-15, February.
    7. Dawit Mekonnen & Elizabeth Bryan & Tekie Alemu & Claudia Ringler, 2017. "Food versus fuel: examining tradeoffs in the allocation of biomass energy sources to domestic and productive uses in Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 48(4), pages 425-435, July.
    8. Jean-Marie Baland & Pranab Bardhan & Sanghamitra Das & Dilip Mookherjee & Rinki Sarkar, 2010. "The Environmental Impact of Poverty: Evidence from Firewood Collection in Rural Nepal," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(1), pages 23-61, October.
    9. Cooke, Priscilla A., 1998. "The effect of environmental good scarcity on own-farm labor allocation: the case of agricultural households in rural Nepal," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(4), pages 443-469, October.
    10. Fitsum Hagos & Gayathri Jayasinghe & Seleshi Bekele Awulachew & Mekonnen Loulseged & Aster Denekew Yilma, 2012. "Agricultural water management and poverty in Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 43, pages 99-111, November.
    11. Gebregziabher, Gebrehaweria & Namara, Regassa E. & Holden, Stein, 2009. "Poverty reduction with irrigation investment: An empirical case study from Tigray, Ethiopia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(12), pages 1837-1843, December.
    12. Mondal, Md Alam Hossain & Bryan, Elizabeth & Ringler, Claudia & Mekonnen, Dawit & Rosegrant, Mark, 2018. "Ethiopian energy status and demand scenarios: Prospects to improve energy efficiency and mitigate GHG emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 161-172.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guta, Dawit Diriba, 2014. "Effect of fuelwood scarcity and socio-economic factors on household bio-based energy use and energy substitution in rural Ethiopia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 217-227.
    2. Muuz Hadush, 2018. "Welfare and food security response of animal feed and water resource scarcity in Northern Ethiopia," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-24, December.
    3. Muuz Hadush, 2017. "Implication of Animal Feed and Water Scarcity on Labor Allocation, Food Production and Per Capita Food Consumption in Tigrai Region, Ethiopia," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 42(4), pages 59-93, December.
    4. Edward B. Barbier & Angela Cindy Emefa Mensah & Michelan Wilson, 2023. "Valuing the Environment as Input, Ecosystem Services and Developing Countries," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(3), pages 677-694, March.
    5. Gebrehiwot, Kiflom & Mondal, Md. Alam Hossain & Ringler, Claudia & Gebremeskel, Abiti Getaneh, 2019. "Optimization and cost-benefit assessment of hybrid power systems for off-grid rural electrification in Ethiopia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 234-246.
    6. Démurger, Sylvie & Fournier, Martin, 2011. "Poverty and firewood consumption: A case study of rural households in northern China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 512-523.
    7. E. Somanathan & Randall Bluffstone, 2015. "Biogas: Clean Energy Access with Low-Cost Mitigation of Climate Change," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 62(2), pages 265-277, October.
    8. Murphy, David M. A. & Berazneva, Julia & Lee, David R., 2015. "Fuelwood Source Substitution and Shadow Prices in Western Kenya," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205084, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Niklas Vahlne & Erik O. Ahlgren, 2014. "Energy Efficiency at the Base of the Pyramid: A System-Based Market Model for Improved Cooking Stove Adoption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-21, November.
    10. Monica Fisher & Gerald E. Shively & Steven Buccola, 2005. "Activity Choice, Labor Allocation, and Forest Use in Malawi," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 81(4).
    11. Jack Gregory & David I. Stern, 2012. "Fuel Choices in Rural Maharashtra," CCEP Working Papers 1207, Centre for Climate & Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    12. Krishnapriya, P.P. & Chandrasekaran, Maya & Jeuland, Marc & Pattanayak, Subhrendu K., 2021. "Do improved cookstoves save time and improve gender outcomes? Evidence from six developing countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    13. Abebe Damte & Steven F. Koch & Alemu Mekonnen, 2011. "Coping with Fuel Wood Scarcity: Household Responses in Rural Ethiopia," Working Papers 201125, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    14. Alemu Mekonnen & Hosaena Ghebru & Stein T. Holden & Menale Kassie, 2013. "The Impact of Land Certification on Tree Growing on Private Plots of Rural Households: Evidence from Ethiopia," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Stein T. Holden & Keijiro Otsuka & Klaus Deininger (ed.), Land Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa, chapter 13, pages 308-330, Palgrave Macmillan.
    15. Yang, Xiaojun & Xu, Jintao & Xu, Xiaojie & Yi, Yuanyuan & Hyde, William F., 2020. "Collective forest tenure reform and household energy consumption: A case study in Yunnan Province, China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    16. Choumert-Nkolo, Johanna & Combes Motel, Pascale & Le Roux, Leonard, 2019. "Stacking up the ladder: A panel data analysis of Tanzanian household energy choices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 222-235.
    17. LaFave, Daniel & Beyene, Abebe Damte & Bluffstone, Randall & Dissanayake, Sahan T.M. & Gebreegziabher, Zenebe & Mekonnen, Alemu & Toman, Michael, 2021. "Impacts of improved biomass cookstoves on child and adult health: Experimental evidence from rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    18. Naidu, Sirisha C., 2011. "Rural Livelihoods, Forest Access and Time Use: A Study of Forest Communities in Northwest India," MPRA Paper 31060, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Jean-Marie Baland & Pranab Bardhan & Sangharmitra Das & Dilip Mookherjee, 2009. "Forest Degradation in the Himalayas: Determinants and Policy Options," Working Papers 1002, University of Namur, Department of Economics.
    20. Mekonnen,Alemu & Beyene,Abebe D. & Bluffstone,Randall Ames & Dissanayake,Sahan & Gebreegziabher,Zenebe & LaFave,Daniel & Martinsson,Peter & Toman,Michael A., 2020. "Improved Biomass Cookstove Use in the Longer Run : Results from a Field Experiment in Rural Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9272, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer/Household Economics; Farm Management; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:cfcp15:344395. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://iaae-agecon.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.