Assessment of the Constraints and Challenges in Avocado (Persea Americana Mill.) Production and Marketing in Southern Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

The avocado fruit is very popular and highly cultivated in many countries, including Ethiopia, for its multiple benefits. The purpose of this study was to examine the major constraints and challenges faced by smallholder farmers in avocado production and marketing in southern Ethiopia. The data were collected from 295 avocado farmers and 30 local traders using various data collection tools. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. The findings from the present study revealed that the proportion of men farmers who produce local avocados was significantly higher than that of women farmers (χ2 = 153.79, df = 1, p < 0.001). On the other hand, women dominated the local markets, accounting for 73.3% of the local avocado traders who were interviewed. In addition, our research has demonstrated that smallholder farmers encounter major difficulties and challenges when growing avocados, including poor fruit retention, inadequate knowledge on agronomic practices, issues with diseases, and pests. Approximately 20.4% of farmers were able to solve at least one of the documented challenges in this study. As a result, it is critical that these concerns be addressed at the national, regional, district, and neighborhood levels to increase the standard of living for Ethiopian farmers who grow this essential crop.

KEYWORDS:

• Avocado
• challenges
• fungal symbionts
• marketing
• Pests
• Planting material

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to smallholder farmers and local traders who shared their knowledge and for their overall hospitality. We also acknowledge the horticultural departments of the Wondo-genet, Dalle, Dara, Bensa, Dilla Zuria, Wonago, Boloso Sore, and Damota Gale districts and their respective local authorities for providing us with the verbal agreement prior to administering the interview and discussions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Partial financial support was received from Hawassa University and the Hawassa College of Teacher Education. The funders had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.