Measuring Technical Efficiency of the Smallholder Crop Farms Using Stochastic Production Frontier Approach

Agricultural productivity in Africa is the lowest in the world with many households not being able to feed themselves. In Africa, women play a major role in agriculture sector constituting about 70–80 per cent of the labour force there. Regrettably, their farm productivity is relatively low mainly due to their inefficient use of farm inputs, which has a serious implication for their socio-economic condition as well as health and nutrition status. With this backdrop in mind, the study investigated the technical efficiency (TE) of the female crop farmers in Niger Delta, Nigeria. Stochastic production frontier approach and ANOVA models were applied to analyse the primary data collected on the 216 female farmers randomly selected from 18 communities of the 3 states in the Delta. It has been found that the farm size and the quantity of labour positively influence TE of these farmers. However, farmer’s age shows a negative sign implying a decrease in technical inefficiency in age whereas the years of schooling shows a positive sign implying an increase in inefficiency with schooling thereby a resulting decrease in TE with schooling. Farm efficiency level in Delta and Akwa Ibom States was not significantly different. However, TE level in both Delta and Akwa Ibom States was significantly different from Rivers State. Since, the age of farmers showed positive influence on TE, farmers should form group and organise regular meetings to enable share knowledge and experiences on the efficient use of farm resources in the Niger Delta Region, Nigeria.

Interpreting Stochastic Frontier Model as Random Coefficient Model and Vice Versa

This note explores the relationship between the stochastic frontier model and the random coefficient regression model. It shows how to interpret the former as a special case of the latter and vice versa. JEL classification numbers: C13, C51, D24. Keywords: Stochastic production frontier, Random coefficient regression, Composite error, Technical inefficiency.

Land Tenure Systems and Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria: a Case of Rice Production

This study examined land tenure systems and rice productivity in Nigeria. Primary data were used for the study. Data were collected with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire. A four-stage sampling technique was used to select a total sample size of three hundred and forty-nine (349) rice farmers based on the number of questionnaires correctly filled and returned from the selected sampled size. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, total factor productivity, and Stochastic production frontier model. The study revealed that large portion of the land (over 94%) used for rice production were acquired through inheritance mode of land acquisition and communal type of land tenure system widely practiced. The result of total factor productivity indicated that 62.18% of the rice farmers were at sub-optimal productivity level. The results of the stochastic production frontier function revealed that seed (P< 0.10), and fertilizer application (P<0.01) were the significant factors influencing technical efficiency of rice production in the study area. Based on the findings, the study recommend that current land use act and policy should be amended to prevent concurrent grabbing of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes in order to enhance availability and accessibility of land for agriculture.

Measuring Efficiency in the Summer Olympic Games Disciplines: The Case of the Spanish Athletes

This paper estimates the technical efficiency of Olympic disciplines in which Spanish athletes participate, taking into account the results obtained in the last three Olympic Games. A stochastic production frontier model (normal-exponential), using two control variables linked to economic factors such as budget and sports scholarships, is estimated in order to obtain different Olympic sports’ efficiencies distinguished by gender, using data from 2005 to 2016. The results detect some differences among the considered disciplines. In all the cases, athletics, canoeing, cycling, swimming, and tennis, depending on the gender, reach better values. This paper’s novelty lies in the efficiency analysis carried out on the Olympic disciplines and athletes of a country and not on the country’s efficiency, which allows managers and stakeholders to decide about investments concerning disciplines and athletes.

Production Efficiency of Sesame Producer Farm Households: The Case of Bench Maji Zone, Southwest Ethiopia

Motives: Agricultural sector in Ethiopia is characterized by its poor performance, despite the livelihoods of the large population of the country depends on agriculture. Sesame is an important cash crop and plays vital role in the livelihood of many people in Ethiopia. However a number of challenges hindered the development of sesame sector along with the productivity. Aim: This study attempted to analyze production efficiency of sesame producers in Bench Maji Zone of Southwest Ethiopia. The study used both primary and secondary data sources. Purposive sampling techniques were employed to draw 270 sesame producer farm households. Descriptive statistics and econometric models were used to analyze the data. Results: The estimated stochastic production frontier model indicated that input variables such as inorganic fertilizer, sesame seed, oxen power, labor and chemicals found to be important factors in increasing the level of sesame output in the study area. The result further revealed significant differences in production efficiency among sesame growing farmers in the study area. Applying the Cobb-Douglas functional form the average, technical, allocative and economic efficiencies found are 50.72%, 86.83% and 44.2% for sesame producers, respectively. Also among fourteen variables used in the analysis of determinants, experience in sesame farming, education level, farm income, total cultivated land, social responsibility, frequency of extension contact, participation in off/nonfarm activities, credit, proximity to market and soil fertility were found to be significant sources of technical, allocative and economic inefficiencies of sesame producer farmers. Strengthening education, extension service, credit access at affordable interest rate and accessibility of transport services and motivating farm household to participate different training as well as their experience sharing with other sesame producing farmers improve productivity of sesame production. Therefore, those important socioeconomic and institutional factors which are mentioned above must take into account to improve the productivity of sesame in the study area.

An Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Vegetables’ Household Production in Mongolia

Vegetable production is one important agricultural product in crop production after wheat and potatoes production in Mongolia. Currently, household production dominates in total vegetable production (approximately 80 percent). Thus, the purposes of this paper were to measure technical efficiency and to determine influencing factors inefficiency on vegetable household production in Mongolia by using Stochastic production frontier analysis (SFA). Primary data was collected from randomly selected 260 vegetable households of Mongolia in 2019. The empirical result indicated that the average technical efficiency of the sampled vegetable household was 64.6 % (range between 43.2% and 99.9%) or they lost about 35.4% of the potential output due to technical inefficiency. We found that land and labor are the main influencing input factors of the household’s vegetable production. Also, the result of the technical inefficiency model, variables of age, sex, experience, and credit use obtained a negative relationship with inefficiency. The other variables are family size, education level, land fragmentation index was positively affected by technical inefficiency.

Economic efficiency and constraints of maize production under shifting cultivation farming system in low land of Gudeya Bila district, Oromia national regional state, Ethiopia: Stochastic frontier approach

Traditionally farming system of rural area in Ethiopia is based on producing maize without oxen ploughing which is characterized with clearing land by their own land and cultivating it without oxen ploughing. Thus for many years the farmers of Ethiopia are unable to meet their food security. This situation is continued currently in the study area in which the production system of maize is based on producing advanced methods of production that need improvements of efficiency of farmers .Therefore these studies analyze economic efficiency and constraints of maize production under shifting in the low land farming of Gudeya Bila district. The study was conducted using cross-sectional data collected during the 2020/2021 production year from 154 randomly selected sample households. To estimate the level of technical, allocative and economic stochastic production frontier model was employed and Tobit model was used to identify factors affecting technical, allocative and economic efficiency of sample households.The mean technical, allocative and economic efficiency were 78.78%, 69.99% and 56.66% respectively. The Tobit model results shows that education levels, family size, farm size, construction of terrace, frequency of extension contact, uses of credit, participation in off/non-farm activities and shifting cultivation had a significant positive effect on technical efficiency. Livestock holding and participation in off/nonfarm activities have positive effects and distance to plot were found to have negative effect on allocative efficiency while family size, soil conservation practice, credit, extension service, off/non-farm activities were found to have positive effect and distance to plot is negative influence on economic efficiency. The main conclusion steaming from this analysis was there is the possibility to enhance the efficiency of maize producers in the study area. Thus policies and strategies of the government should be directed towards the contraction of terrace, shifting from shifting cultivation to oxen farming, producing by fragmented of land rather than focusing only on single plot.