Asset complementarities and revenue inequality among apple smallholders in Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract Apple ( Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivation has expanded rapidly across Ethiopia’s tropical highlands as a high-value diversification strategy. But how the resulting economic benefits are distributed among smallholder growers remains poorly understood. This study tests whether smallholder apple growers with better access to land, irrigation, improved varieties, market linkages, and education capture disproportionate economic benefits from cultivation. We surveyed 274 apple-growing households across five districts of Northwest Ethiopia to quantify revenue distribution and benchmark-based productivity gaps, and to test whether patterns in productive-asset use are consistent with complementarity. Revenue inequality was measured using the Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve. Ordinary least squares, interaction models, and conditional quantile regression evaluated heterogeneous associations across the revenue distribution. Mean apple yield was 12.7 kg tree −1 , a deficit of 68–79% relative to agronomic benchmark yields for comparable environments. Revenue was highly concentrated (Gini = 0.73; 95% CI 0.69–0.77). Land area, irrigation, improved varieties, market access, and education were each positively linked to annual revenue. An interaction between improved varieties and irrigation was positive in the baseline model (β = 0.23, P  = 0.028) but attenuated after adjusting for wealth proxies (β = 0.15, P  = 0.09). This indicates that evidence for asset complementarity is suggestive rather than robust. Quantile regression showed that associations between productive assets and revenue strengthened toward the upper end of the revenue distribution. Productivity models reveal that land area was linked primarily to total revenue, while irrigation and improved varieties were linked to higher yield and revenue per tree. These findings show that significant inequality accompanies the expansion of apple cultivation in Northwest Ethiopia and suggest that differences in access to productive assets are tied to heterogeneous economic returns. If confirmed in future causal studies, policies that improve coordinated access to irrigation, quality planting material, market opportunities, and technical support may support more equitable development of the emerging apple sector.