Degree and drivers of crop-livestock integration based on micro-level study evidence from Afar National Regional State

Integrated farming system is characterized by its interconnected and interdependent nature, where the primary and secondary outputs of one system are utilized as essential inputs for another, resulting in a cohesive and integrated entity. This research examines the extent of crop-livestock integration and the factors affecting it in Asayita district. The study employed multistage sampling, incorporating stratified and simple random selection methods, to select kebeles and 360 households. We employed the crop-livestock integration index and the fractional response model to analyse the data. The average degree of the crop-livestock integration index was 0.25 among rural households in the study area. The fractional response model indicates that the gender of the household head, years of schooling, availability of adult labour, farm size at 1%, livestock unit at 5% and remittance income at 10%, all exert a statistically significant positive influence on the crop-livestock integration index, while distance from canals and market issues negatively affect it at 1% probability level. The study’s findings suggest measures that household heads, regional and district administrations, as well as national and international organisations, may employ to enhance their crop and livestock integration initiatives.