Increasing maize productivity for small landholder farmers has a big potential to uplift the living standards of poor household through increasing production and consumption. This study, therefore, examined the determinants of productivity and market access among smallholder maize farmers in Bilate Zuria woreda using the Probit model and Cobb Douglass production functions. The socio-economic results found that the average age of the total smallholder maize farmers in the study area was 64 years, with the average age of farmers who access market being 63 years and the no-market access being 67 years. The results of the Probit regression analysis indicated that farm size, hired labour and maize produced per hectare had a positive significant influence on the probability of farmers accessing markets. Farm size and maize produced per hectare were statistically significant at 1% and hired labour was statistically significant at 5%. Farmers in the study area indicated that transportation cost is their major challenge.. Therefore, the study recommends that there should be inputs subsidy that helps farmers to improve their productivity