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With research staff from more than 70 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

David Spielman

David Spielman is the director of IFPRI’s Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit and has been with the institute since 2004. His research agenda covers a range of topics including agriculture and rural development policy; agricultural science, technology, and innovation; plant genetic resources and seed systems; agricultural extension and advisory services; and community-driven rural development.

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Since 1975, IFPRI’s research has been informing policies and development programs to improve food security, nutrition, and livelihoods around the world.

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experts

Natural Resources and Resilience

Dawit Mekonnen

Nonresident Fellow

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Bio

Dawit Mekonnen is a Nonresident Fellow in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit. His research interests include productivity and efficiency analysis, water economics, agricultural input systems, and impact evaluation of development projects. Dawit’s current work in sub-Saharan Africa focuses on understanding the impact of irrigation on agricultural productivity, nutrition, health, and women’s empowerment. His research in South Asia focuses on water governance and energy use in agriculture in the context of the water-energy-food nexus. Prior to graduate school, he served as a research officer at IFPRI’s Addis Ababa office and as a lecturer at the Department of Economics at Haramaya University in Ethiopia. He completed his PhD in Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia, and holds MSc and BA degrees in Economics from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.

Publications

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Publications

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Seeds of change: The impact of Ethiopia’s direct seed marketing approach on smallholders’ seed purchases and productivity

2026Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Abate, Gashaw T.; Yimam, Seid; Benfica, Rui; Spielman, David J.; Place, Frank
Details

Seeds of change: The impact of Ethiopia’s direct seed marketing approach on smallholders’ seed purchases and productivity

While multiple factors explain low adoption rates of improved varieties by small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, a key supply-side constraint is the limited availability of seed embodying new traits in the volume, quality, price, and timeliness required by farmers. This constraint is partly attributable to classical failures in the market for seeds and traits. Historically, governments have remedied this failure by allocating public resources to varietal improvement and seed distribution. In 2011, the Government of Ethiopia launched a novel experiment—the direct seed marketing approach—to encourage private seed investment in the country’s seed system and to reduce the state’s footprint in the system. Direct seed marketing incentivized seed companies to sell directly to farmers rather than through state distribution channels. This study provides the first quantitative assessment of the impact of direct seed marketing based on key indicators of a robust seed system: access to seed and farm-level productivity. Using a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach suitable to handling variation in treatment timing, we find that direct seed marketing increased the share of farmers purchasing fresh maize seed by 15 percentage points. It also raised the quantity of maize seed purchased by 45% and improved maize yields by 18%. In contrast, direct seed marketing had no effect on wheat seed purchases and yields. These crop-specific differences likely reflect underlying differences in the reproductive biology of maize and wheat, highlighting the importance of crop-specific policy design, institutional arrangements, and market development strategies to accelerate the adoption of improved varieties.

Year published

2026

Authors

Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Abate, Gashaw T.; Yimam, Seid; Benfica, Rui; Spielman, David J.; Place, Frank

Citation

Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Abate, Gashaw T.; Yimam, Seid; Benfica, Rui; Spielman, David J.; and Place, Frank. Seeds of change: The impact of Ethiopia’s direct seed marketing approach on smallholders’ seed purchases and productivity. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Article in press. First published online on 26 February 2026. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajae.70061

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Capacity Building; Seed Systems; Seed Quality; Seeds; Direct Marketing; Crops; Maize; Crop Production; Smallholders; Marketing; Seed Production; Productivity; Commercialization

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1002/ajae.70061 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

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Journal Article

The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia

2025Bryan, Elizabeth; van Biljon, Chloé; Lee, Yeyoung; Ringler, Claudia; Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework
Details

The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia

While small-scale irrigation is largely designed and developed for agricultural production, irrigation water is used for multiple other purposes in rural low- and middle-income settings where dedicated water, sanitation, and hygiene services (WASH) are not available. Therefore, expanding access to irrigation can potentially improve the WASH environment leading to health and nutrition benefits. This study examines the linkages between irrigation, use of irrigation water sources for multiple purposes, and WASH and health outcomes. We find that irrigation is associated with better household access to water and improved sanitation facilities. This relationship is driven by households that use groundwater for both irrigation and domestic uses. Moreover, our results show that hygiene practices and health outcomes are not influenced by irrigation or multiple uses of the same water source. To strengthen hygiene behavior, behavioral change communication will be important. For small-scale irrigation to effectively support WASH and, thus, to strengthen nutrition and health outcomes, systems would need to be co-designed by irrigation and health specialists, and women farmers who are largely responsible for providing WASH services at the household level would need to be empowered to participate in the design and management of these dual-purpose systems.

Year published

2025

Authors

Bryan, Elizabeth; van Biljon, Chloé; Lee, Yeyoung; Ringler, Claudia; Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework

Citation

Bryan, Elizabeth; van Biljon, Chloé; Lee, Yeyoung; Ringler, Claudia; and Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework. 2025. The linkages between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and small-scale irrigation: Insights from rural Ethiopia. Journal of Water and Health 23(11): 1341-1354. https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2025.053

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Agricultural Production; Hygiene; Small-scale Irrigation; Water Supply

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2025.053 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Working Paper

Seeds of change: The impact of Ethiopia’s direct seed marketing approach on smallholders’ seed purchases and productivity

2025Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Abate, Gashaw T.; Yimam, Seid; Benfica, Rui; Spielman, David J.; Place, Frank
Details

Seeds of change: The impact of Ethiopia’s direct seed marketing approach on smallholders’ seed purchases and productivity

Several factors contribute to the limited use of improved seed varieties in Ethiopia. Among those, on the supply side, is the restricted availability of seeds in the volume, quality, and timeliness required by farmers, partly due to inadequate public and private investment in the sector. Beginning in 2011, the Government of Ethiopia introduced a novel experiment—the direct seed marketing approach—to reduce some of the centralized, state-run attributes of the country’s seed market and rationalize the use of public resources. Direct seed marketing was designed to incentivize private and public seed producers to sell directly to farmers rather than through the state apparatus. This study is the first quantitative evaluation of the impact of direct seed marketing on indicators of a healthy seed system: access to quality seeds and farm-level productivity. Using a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach suitable to handling variation in treatment timing, the study finds that direct seed marketing led to an increase of 15 percentage points in the proportion of farmers purchasing maize seed, an increase of 45 percent in the quantity of maize seed purchased per hectare, and an increase of 18 percent in maize yield. However, there are differences across crops, with the effects of direct seed marketing on wheat seed purchases and yields being statistically insignificant. These crop-specific differences in performance are likely explained by differences in the reproductive biology of maize (particularly maize hybrids) and wheat, which tend to incentivize commercial activity in hybrid maize seed markets more than in self-pollinating wheat or open-pollinated maize markets. These differences suggest a need for nuanced policy responses, institutional arrangements, and market development strategies to accelerate the adoption of improved varieties.

Year published

2025

Authors

Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Abate, Gashaw T.; Yimam, Seid; Benfica, Rui; Spielman, David J.; Place, Frank

Citation

Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework; Abate, Gashaw T.; Yimam, Seid; Benfica, Rui; Spielman, David J.; and Place, Frank. 2025. Seeds of change: The impact of Ethiopia’s direct seed marketing approach on smallholders’ seed purchases and productivity. Policy Research Working Paper 11078. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. https://hdl.handle.net/10986/42903

Country/Region

Ethiopia

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Farmers; Maize; Seeds; Smallholders

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Seed Equal

Record type

Working Paper

Blogs

Modeling the optimal energy solutions for irrigation in Ethiopia
Research Post
 | 
September 23, 2022

Modeling the optimal energy solutions for irrigation in Ethiopia

By Dawit Mekonnen and Hua Xie

The best places for grid-based, solar, and diesel powered equipment.

Events

IFPRI @ 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27)
IFPRI at External Event

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November 6 to 18, 2022

IFPRI @ 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27)

Hybrid Event: November 6, 2022 – 4:00 AM to November 18, 2022 – 8:30 PM EST. IFPRI is participating in the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Accelerating clean energy access in rural areas
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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October 5, 2021, 8:00 – 9:00 am

Accelerating clean energy access in rural areas

Virtual Event: OCT 5, 2021 – 08:00 AM to 09:00 AM EDT. This webinar will present research that can help countries enhance smallholder access to clean energy and address climate adaptation/ mitigation challenges. 

World Water Week 2021
IFPRI at External Event

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August 23 to 27, 2021

World Water Week 2021

AUG 24, 2021 – 06:00 PM to 7:00 PM EDT. This session will showcase new insights into the multiple and synergistic roles of water in food systems and for the nutrition that was deliberated during the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. 

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News

April 29, 2020 | In the News

Agriculture and Rural Electrification in Ethiopia could Unlock US$4 Billion for the National Economy (Yahoo Life) 

Yahoo Life reported on a study conducted by the Rocky Mountain Institute, IFPRI, and with the support of the Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Energy and the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) which outlines the synergies between rural electrification and agricultural productivity, processing, and businesses, and the value that can flow from closely linking the two. Republished in  RMI.org, Africa […]

April 28, 2020 | In the News

How rural electrification is transforming Ethiopia’s agriculture sector (CNBC Africa) 

CNBC-Africa interviewed Research Fellow Dawit Mekonnen about his coauthored study, Capturing the productive use dividend valuing the synergies between rural electrification and smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia. Mekonnen discussed the synergies between rural electrification and agricultural productivity, processing, and businesses in Ethiopia. 

September 09, 2016 | In the News

Irrigation on rise in Africa as farmers face erratic weather (Reuters)

IFPRI Senior Research Fellow Ruth Meinzen-Dick and Research Fellow Dawit Mekonnen were both mentioned in a Reuters article about irrigation. Published on the heels of World Water Week, the article was picked up by The Daily Mail and other outlets. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) estimates that more than a million hectares of […]

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