This study has assessed crop market situation of crop producer farmers with the association of food security in Ada’a Wereda, central Ethiopia, through descriptive statistics incorporating with histogram graphs, local polynomial smooth graphs, one sample T Test, and One Way ANOVA tests and identified the factors affecting crop market participation intensity using ordered logit regression model. Moreover, the study has analyzed the effect of crop market on household food security by incorporating the Tobit regression model within 160 sample sizes for the study area of Ada’a Woreda in four Kebles of Yatu, Gice, Gubsaye and Denkaka Keble. Main findings of this study indicated that there are factors hindering crop market participation intensity of small holders at different levels among crop market challenges both descriptive statistics and ordered logit regression results empirically signified that unavailability of crop market place near the smallholders, unavailability or low volume of infrastructure that exposed them for transport, to be inaccessible to group market, to market information, exposed to household distance and other transactional costs and unavailability of financial institutions near their area all challenges were expressed as high degree of crop market challenges ,low degree of crop market challenges, medium and none degree of crop market challenges and arable land size were found statistically significant and influential determinate factor for household market participation intensity. The empirical result from Tobit regression model signified that household market participation intensity, extension services, none crop market challenges and beans/groundnuts of producing groups of crops were found statistically significant and had positive effect on household food security in Ada’a wereda, which verified the descriptive statistics results. Whereas household activity was found statistically significant but had negative effect on household food security in the wereda. The total crop production of household in Ada’a wereda, empirically indicted that total crop production was found statistically insignificant with household market participation which implies that the production decision of Ada’a wereda's smallholder crop producers were not based on market signals, rather they produce merely for household consumption which indicates negatively affecting the wereda's household food security.

Keywords: Crop marketing, food security, smallholder crop producer farmers, descriptive statistics, ordered logit & Tobit regression model analysis