Common bean is one of the major pulse crops which played an important role to the Ethiopian national economy and to farmers as food and cash income. Ethiopia ranked third in common bean production in Eastern and Southern Africa. The country exported 40 percent of its total common bean production in 2010. Despite the wide dissemination of improved common bean varieties and its economic importance, there is a dearth of information on the profitability of smallholder farmers from common bean production. Most of the previous studies on common bean did little on the profitability of small holder bean producers. This study is designed with the aim of assessing the profitability status of small holder common bean producers and factors correlated with it. Sample bean producers were selected randomly using simple random sampling. The cross-sectional data collected from sampled household is analyzed using descriptive statistics and Ordinary Least Square (OLS). The result of the study shows that the mean common bean gross margin and net farm income was 13486 and 8127 Birr/ha respectively. Distance from nearest market, Age, Family size, off farm income and fertilizer source are the factors influencing the profitability of smallholder common bean producers negatively. However, Gender, farm experience, group membership and target market channel had a positive significant influence on smallholder based common bean production profitability. Therefore, in order to enhance the profitability of smallholder households, among other, it is important to improve access to input and output market and collective actions by farmers. There is also a need to minimize the gender gap in the profitability through affirmative action such as provision of special credit and access to modern technologies by female farmers.
