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>

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 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 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

Does household engagement in concurrent business affect the farm size-technical efficiency relationship in grain production?

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Zhong ◽  
Yuchun Zhu ◽  
Qihui Chen ◽  
Tianjun Liu ◽  
Qihua Cai
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
Two Factors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how households’ engagement in concurrent business (CB), which is measured by the contribution of off-farm income to household income, affects the farm size–technical efficiency (TE) relationship in Northern China. Design/methodology/approach This paper applies a stochastic frontier analysis method to analyze data on 1,006 rural households collected from four major wheat-producing provinces in Northern China, adopting a translog specification for the underlying production function. Findings The analysis yields three findings. First, the farm size–TE relationship is inverted U-shaped for all CB engagement levels higher than 5 percent, and the most technically efficient farm size increases with the level of household CB engagement. Second, how TE varies with the level of CB engagement depends on farm size: an inverted-U relationship for relatively small farms (<10μ), a positive relationship for middle-size farms (10–20μ), and a negative relationship for large farms (>20μ). Finally, the overall TE score, 0.88, suggests that wheat output can be increased by 12 percent in Northern China if technical inefficiency were eliminated. Originality/value Unlike most previous studies that examine the impacts of farm size and households’ off-farm business involvement separately, this paper examines how these two factors interact with each other.

scholarly journals Off-farm participation and technical efficiency among smallholder farmers in the Northern Region, Ghana

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 35-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gideon Danso-Abbeam ◽  
Brightina A.A. Abban ◽  
Samuel A. Donkoh
Keyword(s):  
Regression Model ◽  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Farm Income

The study aimed at investigating the effects of off-farm participation on technical efficiency of maize production in the Tolon district of the Northern Region, Ghana. The Logit regression model was used to analyze the determinants of off-farm participation while the stochastic frontier production function was used to model the determinants of maize output and technical efficiency. The empirical results from the logistic regression model indicate that age of farmer, educational attainment, farming experience, farm size, and previous farm income are significant drivers of farmers’ participation in off-farm activities. Farmers’ average technical efficiency level was 90.7% suggesting a 9.3% potential loss to inefficiency. Moreover, participation in off-farm activities had a negative influence on farmers’ technical efficiency level. The study, therefore, recommends that farm-level policy should be directed towards making the agricultural sector attractive by promoting investment and agricultural employment opportunities in the rural areas so as to ensure full commitment to farming activities. JEL code: Q22

scholarly journals Stochastic frontier analysis of catfish (Clarias gariepinus) aquaculture agribusiness for sustainable fisheries development: Evidence from Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Eguono Aramide Ikpoza ◽  
Felix Odemero Achoja ◽  
Oraye Dicta Ogisi ◽  
Christy Uliong
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Clarias Gariepinus ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Variable Cost ◽  
Fish Feed ◽  
Sustainable Fisheries ◽  
Frontier Analysis

Technical efficiency assessment and enhancement is critical to sustainable fisheries development in Nigeria. This study examines stochastic frontier of catfish aquaculture agribusiness for sustainable fisheries development. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 110 catfish farmers in areas with high density catfish farms. Primary data were collected directly from catfish farmers using structured questionnaire. The analytical tools used were descriptive statistics, net farm income, stochastic frontier production function (SPF) and t-statistics. The result shows that most of the catfish farmers were young people within the productive age of 40-49 years. Catfish farmers had obtained various levels of formal education. Finding shows that feeds cost was the highest variable cost (72.75%). Feed had a positive and significant relationship (P<0.05) with catfish output. Mean technical efficiency is 53.49%. The estimated variance (δ2s=0.2125) is statistically significant (P<0.05), indicating that profit inefficiency is highly significant among catfish farmers. Estimated Gamma (γ) value of 0.26 implies that 26% of the total variation in catfish profit efficiency is due to the joint effect of technical inefficiency factors. The most significant efficiency factors are fish feed and pond size. The age and educational status of farmers are the most important determining factors of inefficiency in catfish production system. Lack of finance was the most serious constraint faced by catfish farmers. The study recommended that catfish farmers should form cooperative unions to facilitate their access to cooperative funding.

scholarly journals Technical efficiency and artisanal fishing households: Any hope in oil extracting locations? Evidence from Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-228
Author(s):  
Theophilus Miebi Gbigbi
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Cost Ratio ◽  
High Educational Level ◽  
Artisanal Fishing ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
Cooperative Society

Artisanal fishing household’s production is investigated using stochastic frontier analysis through Cobb-Douglas production function, which incorporates an inefficiency effects model. Descriptive statistics and profitability index were also used to analyzed the data collected. One hundred and twenty eight households were randomly picked through multistage techniques in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Primary data were chosen using structured questionnaire and interview schedule. Results indicates that greater part of respondents were males with an average age of 42 years who were married with household size of 6 persons. Very many of them did not belong to cooperative society with high educational level. The result indicates that labour, baits and capital inputs were significantly related to output. The average technical efficiency was 73%. This means that the households can still improve their efficiency level by 27%. The structure of production suggests that the returns to scale was 0.9584. The estimated gamma parameter was 0.9423 and was significant at 5% level. Access to credit, membership of cooperative society and fishing experience had an inverse relationship with technical inefficiency while age, fishing distance, gender, number of trips and oil spill had a direct relationship with inefficiency. Artisanal fishing was found to be profitable with a net farm income of N135261.21 and a benefit cost ratio (BCR) of N1.20k. The major constraint to artisanal fishing was pollution. Therefore, the study calls for policies that increases the security of oil pipelines in order to stem the tide of oil spillage and invariably water pollution.

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.

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