scholarly journals Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Tomato Production in Semi-Urban Farms in Cameroon: A Stochastic Frontier Production Approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Paul Jr. Tabe-Ojong ◽  
Ernest L. Molua
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Tomato Production ◽  
Frontier Analysis

Agriculture is the mainstay of Cameroon’s economy as it serves the purposes of food, livelihood and employment. Nevertheless, the country’s agriculture is plagued by low productivity and inefficiency in production. One of the main reasons for low productivity is the inability of farmers to fully exploit available technologies and production techniques. An important research question that comes to mind is, what are the major factors that hinder the technical efficiency of smallholder farmers? This study thus aimed to determine the level of technical efficiency in the production of tomato in smallholder farms, relying on primary data collected using a structured survey instrument administered to 80 tomato farmers in the Buea municipality of Cameroon. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and a stochastic frontier analysis method in the Cobb-Douglas production function. The STATA.14 software was used to obtain both stochastic frontier estimates and the determinants of technical efficiency. The results indicate that farmers are not fully technically efficient with a mean technical efficiency score of 0.68 with one farmer operating on the frontier. The study also revealed that most of the farmers irrespective of the size of the holdings have shown technical inefficiency problems. The older farmers were observed with the best measures of technical efficiency. Education, age and the adoption and practice of agronomic techniques had a positive and significant influence on technical efficiency while the nearest distance to the extension agent had a rather negative influence on technical efficiency. The input-output relationship showed that the area of tomato cultivation and the quantity of improved seed used were positive and significantly related to output at the 5% level of probability. As a result, it is recommended that farmers should increase their farm size, use of improved seeds and the adoption and practice of novel techniques in production. More emphasis should be placed on extension agents as they have a significant role to play in terms of improving and augmenting farmers’ education and information base through on farm demonstrations and result oriented workshops as all this will ensure increased production and productivity thereby increasing technical efficiency and achieving food self-sufficiency.

scholarly journals Technical Efficiency and Small Scale Maize Producers in Mwanza Region: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mukole Kongolo
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Likelihood Estimation ◽  
Estimation Procedure ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Maize Production ◽  
Frontier Analysis

This study measured technical efficiency and its determinants in maize production by small-scale producers in Mwanza region, using a stochastic frontier production function approach. A randomly selected sample of participants in the two districts was used. The Maximum Likelihood estimation procedure was followed to obtain the determinants of technical efficiency and technical efficiency levels of small-scale maize producers. The minimum and maximum values of technical efficiency were between 20% and 91%, indicating that the least practices of specific producer operates at a minimum level of 20%, while the best practice producers  operate  at 91% technical efficiency  level respectively. The summary results of the mean technical efficiency was 63%. The main determinants of technical efficiency were labour, farm size, producer’s experience, producer’s age, family size which were all positive and statistically significant. The findings suggest that the average efficiency of small-scale maize producers could be improved by 37% through better use of existing resources and technology. These findings highlight the need for action by government to assist small-scale maize producers improve efficiency.

scholarly journals Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency of Rubber Smallholders in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 226
Author(s):  
A. Aliyu ◽  
Ismail Abd Latif ◽  
Mad Nasir Shamsudin ◽  
Nolila Mohd Nawi
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Likelihood Function ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Efficiency Score ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Size Task

The main objective of the study was to figure out, identify and analyse the technical efficiency of rubber smallholders’ production in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Multi-stage data collection procedures, comprising both purposive and random sampling techniques, were used. Using structured questionnaires, farm-level information with cross sectional data from five districts of Negeri Sembilan, were employed in the study. A parametric Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA), with a transcendental logarithmic (Translog) functional form, was used in the study. The descriptive statistics results revealed that, the mean rubber yield was 5465 kg while that of the seven inputs used include 1.2 ha, 602.7, 2.33, 363.6 kg, 13.0 lit, 13.2 man days and 2.47 respectively for farm size, task, farm tools, fertilizer, herbicides, labour and rubber clones.The inferential statistics showed that, the mean technical efficiency was found to be 0.73 with a standard deviation of 0.089. Thus, this translates that 27% accounted for technical inefficiency. Both the sigma square and gamma coefficients were found to be statistically significant at 1% level. The Log Likelihood Function (LLF) and the Log Rati (LR) test were found to be respectively 167.7 and 34.07. The results further revealed that, although none of the farms were found to be on the frontier, however, 9 farms were very near the frontier with efficiency score range between 0.90-0.99. And twenty (20) firms have range 0.80-0.90. Race, Tapping experience, household number and extension agent’s visits were found to be technically significant and are thus critical in determining technical efficiency of rubber smallholders in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.

scholarly journals Profiling Smallholder Farmers Goals and Aspirations for Enhanced Agricultural Development: a Case of Smallholder Maize Farmers

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Fakunle Olufemi Oyedokun ◽  
Zhou Leocadia
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
The Mean

The intervention of government in the development of smallholder agriculture is still grappling and has not yielded the desired results, despite the huge investment from government. This has been a source of concern to government and policy makers. This paper sought to analyze the socio-demographic features of the smallholder maize farmers; profile the goals and aspirations of these farmers; and lastly, to analyze the technical efficiency of maize farmers. Qamata and Tyefu in the Transkei and Ciskei homelands, respectively were purposively chosen for the study. Descriptive statistics; Principal component analysis (PCA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) were used in the analysis. The result shows, that majority (66%) of the farmers were males with an average range of 61 years old. On the other hand, the PCA indicated that there is a variation between predicted goals and aspiration among maize farmers. The SFA result showed that farmers were efficient. The mean technical efficiency estimates up to 100%, an indication that farmers are more efficient in the usage of factors of production at their disposal in the study area. This implies that smallholder maize farming is lucrative due to its profit-making potentials. Moreover, this is a clear indication that more income and wealth is generated thereby implying that it is strategic and pivotal in improving farmers’ livelihoods

scholarly journals Farm Structure And Efficiency In The Hungarian Agriculture

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-56
Author(s):  
Orsolya Tóth ◽  
István Takács
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
Parametric Data ◽  
Legal Forms ◽  
On Farm

Abstract It has long been the subject of empirical researches to examine the technical efficiency on farm (micro) level. Two main methods are most often used in the empirical literature: the non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) based on linear programming, and the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) introduced by Aigner, Lovell and Schmidt (1977). The present study aimed to investigate the technical efficiency of farms involved in agricultural activities in Hungary using the DEA-method and the data from the Hungarian FADN database. The technical efficiency was examined based on legal forms, farm size categories and the type of farming between 2001 and 2013.

scholarly journals Estimation of technical efficiency of Czech farms operating in less favoured areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (No. 10) ◽  
pp. 445-453
Author(s):  
Tamara Rudinskaya ◽  
Tomas Hlavsa ◽  
Martin Hruska
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Agricultural Area ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Identification System ◽  
Accounting Data ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
The Impact

This paper deals with the technical efficiency analysis of farms in the Czech Republic. The empirical analysis provides an evaluation of technical efficiency with regard to the farm size, farm specialisation, and farm location. Accounting data of Czech farms from the Albertina database for the years 2011–2015 were used for the analysis. The data were classified by the utilised agricultural area and location of the farm expressed as a less favoured area type from the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) database. Research was conducted using the translogarithmic production function and Stochastic Frontier Analysis. The results indicate positive impact of farm size, expressed by utilised agricultural area, on technical efficiency. The analysis of the impact of farm specialisation on technical efficiency verified that farms specialised on animal production are more efficient. The lowest technical efficiency is shown by farms situated in mountainous Less Favoured Areas (LFAs), the highest technical efficiency by farms located in non-LFA regions.

scholarly journals Technical Efficiency of Cassava Production in Ardo-Kola Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel A. Zubairu ◽  
Andefikir D. Kasari ◽  
Abubakar U. Jongur
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Local Government Area ◽  
Maximum Likelihood Estimates ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Extension Agents ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
Cassava Production

— This study used stochastic frontier Analysis to estimate the technical efficiency of cassava production in Ardo-kola Local Government Area of Taraba state. A multi-stage sampling was employed in selecting 142 respondents in the study area. The maximum likelihood estimates of the stochastic frontier production function revealed that farm size, family labour, cassava cutting planting and fertilizer were significantly and positively related to cassava output. Technical efficiency (TE) scores ranged from 0.43 to 0.96 with a mean TE of 0.74, implying that there is a scope for increasing technical efficiency in cassava production by 0.26 in short run under current technology. The study proffered the following recommendations; That Cassava farmers should have access to extension agents to increase their probability of being productive and efficient, policy should be targeted to provide adequate training to extension agents to enhance their performance to their clientele.

scholarly journals Profiling Smallholder Farmers Goals and Aspirations for Enhanced Agricultural Development: a Case of Smallholder Maize Farmers

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4(J)) ◽  
pp. 98-106
Author(s):  
Fakunle Olufemi Oyedokun ◽  
Zhou Leocadia
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
The Mean

The intervention of government in the development of smallholder agriculture is still grappling and has not yielded the desired results, despite the huge investment from government. This has been a source of concern to government and policy makers. This paper sought to analyze the socio-demographic features of the smallholder maize farmers; profile the goals and aspirations of these farmers; and lastly, to analyze the technical efficiency of maize farmers. Qamata and Tyefu in the Transkei and Ciskei homelands, respectively were purposively chosen for the study. Descriptive statistics; Principal component analysis (PCA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) were used in the analysis. The result shows, that majority (66%) of the farmers were males with an average range of 61 years old. On the other hand, the PCA indicated that there is a variation between predicted goals and aspiration among maize farmers. The SFA result showed that farmers were efficient. The mean technical efficiency estimates up to 100%, an indication that farmers are more efficient in the usage of factors of production at their disposal in the study area. This implies that smallholder maize farming is lucrative due to its profit-making potentials. Moreover, this is a clear indication that more income and wealth is generated thereby implying that it is strategic and pivotal in improving farmers’ livelihoods

scholarly journals Technical Efficiency Analysis of Wheat Crop in Arid Region of Punjab, Pakistan

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Muhammad Fahad Irfan ◽  
Muhammad Umer Afzal ◽  
Kaif Matloob ◽  
Irfan Ahmad Baig
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Efficiency Analysis ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
The Mean

The present study aims to estimate the possible effects of credit on production of wheat crop in Chakwal. The research was based on primary data gathered from 120 farmers, selected by using random sampling technique belonging to two tehsils i.e. Talagang and Chakwal. SFA (Stochastic Frontier Analysis) model was adapted to analyze the data and the results show the mean technical efficiency of the wheat crop was 82 percent for borrowers and 76 percent for non-borrowers. The results proposed that the technical efficiency of wheat growers can be increased by increasing loan disbursement in the area.

scholarly journals Technical Efficiency of Sweet Potato Production: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1344-1356
Author(s):  
Godfrey C. Onuwa ◽  
Solomon T. Folorunsho ◽  
Ganiyu Binuyo ◽  
Mercy Emefiene ◽  
Onyekwere P. Ifenkwe
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Sweet Potato ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Potato Production ◽  
Utilization Efficiency ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Frontier Analysis

The level of yield among sweet potato farmers is on a decline; low output and yield differences was observed, indicating the existence of inefficiency in production systems and variations in input utilization. Efficiency in resource use must be sustained in order to improve productivity and maximize farm output. This study therefore analyzed the technical efficiency of sweet potato production. Multi-stage sampling techniques were adopted in selecting 94 respondents for this study. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier production function. The socioeconomic variables of the respondents affected their farm efficiency and level of farm output. The estimated ratio of the L/R test was 0.579; indicating a goodness of fit of the frontier model and thus a rejection of the null hypothesis. The coefficients of sweet potato seeds (vines) (0.362) and labour (0.439) were positive and statistically significant at 5% level of probability, while the coefficients of farm size (-1.333), fertilizer (-0.452) and herbicides (-0.766) were negative but statistically significant at 5% level of probability. The inefficiency model revealed that the coefficient of farm capital (-0.172), education (-2.281), access to credit (-0.472), farming experience (-0.639), extension contact (-0.733) and membership of cooperatives (-0.396) were negative and statistically significant at 5% level of probability. The mean technical efficiency was 0.62 (62%) implying that the sweet potato farmers in the study area were not producing at optimal capacity. The constraints identified significantly affected sweet potato production in the study area. Subsidizing input costs; sensitizing farmers on appropriate farming practices, cooperative formation and efficiency in resource utilization; improving access to agricultural inputs, technology, farm capital, credit and extension services, market linkages, farm labour supply and the development of indigenous technologies in sweet potato production are strongly recommended.

scholarly journals A Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Maize Production Under Minimum Tillage in Zambia

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Ng'ombe ◽  
Thomson Kalinda
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Household Head ◽  
Exponential Model ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
Minimum Tillage

<p>Minimum tillage and other conservation agriculture practices are not only associated with income gains but are also claimed to be the panacea to the declining agricultural productivity and soil degradation problems in Africa and across the world. The few studies on technical efficiency related to the agricultural sector performance in Zambia have not attempted to determine how technically efficient smallholder farmers that produce maize under minimum tillage are. This study used stochastic frontier analysis based on both the half-normal and exponential model distributions on 2008 cross-sectional nationally representative data of 160 smallholder maize farm households that adopted minimum tillage in Zambia. Results indicate that maize farmers face increasing returns to scale (1.074) implying that there were opportunities for them to improve their technical efficiency as they were operating in stage I of their production functions. The half-normal and exponential model distributions indicate average technical efficiency scores of 60 and 71.7 percent, respectively. Their respective lowest efficiency scores were 9.3 and 8.5 percent. The highest efficiency scores for the half-normal and exponential model distributions were 89.3 and 90.9 percent. Maximum likelihood estimation results show that marital status, level of education of household head, square of household size, off farm income, agro-ecological region III, distance to vehicular road and access to loans are statistically significant factors that affect technical efficiency of smallholder maize farmers that practice minimum tillage in Zambia. The study calls for increased infrastructural development through construction of improved road network, schools and colleges in remote areas as a means to increasing accesss to knowledge and other agricultural services in order to enhance their technical efficiency levels. It also recommends promotion of minimum tillage practices in recommended agro-ecological regions to improve their technical efficiency. The study further acclaims for increased access to loans by smallholder maize farmers that practice minimum tillage as this would in one way induce them to invest in improved varieties and equipment that would help enhance their technical efficiency in Zambia.</p>

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