Does cluster beekeeping improve the efficiency of honey production in participant households in southwestern Ethiopia?

The purpose of this study is to understand the determinants of participation in cluster beekeeping and its impact on the technical efficiency of honey production in southwestern Ethiopia. To this end, cross-sectional data from a household survey conducted in 2023 from 385 sample households in 3 districts were used for the analysis. An endogenous switching regression model with a probit model was used to analyze the impact of clustering beekeepers on the technical efficacy of honey production. The results of the study showed that honey production was significantly and favorably affected by the total number of hives, type of hive, and distance to an accessible forest. As indicated by the average technical efficiency (TE) at 72 %, the actual quantity of production differed from the desired production volume. The results show that the gender of the household head, access to training, access to credit, market information, frequency of extension contacts, and age of the household head are the most important determinants of households' decision to participate in group beekeeping. In addition, the result of the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model shows that participation in group beekeeping has a positive and significant effect on honey production efficiency as measured by technical efficiency (TE). Farmers who participated in cluster beekeeping were technically less inefficient than those who did not participate. Therefore, policies and development strategies that encourage further participation in cluster beekeeping could improve the efficiency of honey production of smallholder farmers in Jimma Zone, southwestern Ethiopia.