EPTD DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 102 PRODUCTIVITY AND LAND ENHANCING TECHNOLOGIES IN NORTHERN ETHI.pdf

EPTD DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 102 Environment and Production Technology Division International Food Policy Research Institute 2033 K Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 U.S.A. April 2003 EPTD Discussion Papers contain preliminary material and research results, and are circulated prior to a full peer review in order to stimulate discussion and critical comment. It is expected that most Discussion Papers will eventually be published in some other form, and that their content may also be revised. PRODUCTIVITY AND LAND ENHANCING TECHNOLOGIES IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIA: HEALTH, PUBLIC INVESTMENTS, AND SEQUENTIAL ADOPTION Lire Ersado, Gregory Amacher, and Jeffrey Alwang i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The paper is based on Lire Ersado?s Ph.D. thesis at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. We would like to thank World Health Organization for funding the research and Mekele University College for logistic support. We also thank Tigray Health Bureau for invaluable advice on disease patterns and sampling within the Tigray region, and two anonymous referees for comments. All remaining errors are our own. ii ABSTRACT The adoption of more efficient farming practices and technologies that enhance agricultural productivity and improve environmental sustainability is instrumental for achieving economic growth, food security and poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa. Our research examines the interaction between public investments, community health, and adoption of productivity and land enhancing technologies by households in the northern Ethiopian state of Tigray. Agricultural technology adoption decisions are modeled as a sequential process where the timing of choices can matter. We find that time spent sick and opportunity costs of caring for sick family members are significant factors in adoption. Sickness, through its impact on household income and labor allocation decisions for he