Analysis on the Impacts of Field Bunds on Crop Yields in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia

In the Tigray region of the northern Ethiopia, adoption of field bunds has been promoted by the Ethiopian government and international organizations to cope with land degradation. However, it is not always clear to what extent field bunds have impact on crop yields. Using cross-sectional data from the IFPRI, we investigate factors affecting field bunds adoption, the impact of field bunds on crop yields, and the effect of interacting field bunds with fertilizers or seeds. We combine fixed effect and instrumental variable approaches to measure the impact of field bunds. We find that field bunds alone do not have impact on crop yields, but the interaction of field bunds with chemical fertilizers or improved seeds seems to increase the effectiveness of these inputs. Therefore, the promotion of field bunds should be accompanied by the pro-motion of these modern inputs to benefit farmers with improved crop yields. -- Relevance to Development Studies -- Farmers are more likely to adopt land conservation measures on their plots if their action is rewarded with improved crop yields. Thus, understanding the impact of field bunds has important implications to sustainable development; and addressing this information needs is relevant to development studies.