The Ethiopian government has been promoting a package-driven
extension that combines credit, fertilizers, improved seeds, and
better management practices. This approach has reached almost
all farming communities, representing about 2 percent of
agricultural gross domestic product in recent years. This paper
is the first to look at the extent and determinants of the
adoption of the fertilizer-seed technology package promoted in
Ethiopia using nationally representative data from the Central
Statistical Agency of Ethiopia. We estimate a double hurdle
model of fertilizer use for four major cereal crops: barley,
maize, teff, and wheat. Since maize is the only crop that
exhibits considerable adoption of improved seed, we estimate a
similar model for the adoption of improved seed in maize
production. We find that access to fertilizer and seed is
related to access to extension services and that production
specialization together with wealth play a major role in
explaining crop area under fertilizer and improved seed.