Assessing the Economic Efficiency of Maize Production in Northern Ghana

Abdulai, Shamsudeen; Nkegbe, Paul Kwame; Donkor, Samuel

doi:10.4314/gjds.v14i1.7

Cited by 41 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This is not surprising as land is not a major limitation to production in Northern Ghana. This result corresponds to that of Abdulai et al [32] who found land, seeds, and agro-chemicals to have positive significant elasticities for maize in Northern Ghana. As one can note, fertilizer input and agro-chemicals are likely to stimulate production to a lower extent than land and seed inputs.…”

Section: Production Function Of Soybean In Northern Ghanasupporting

confidence: 90%

Do NGOs and Development Agencies Contribute to Sustainability of Smallholder Soybean Farmers in Northern Ghana—A Stochastic Production Frontier Approach

et al. 2016

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NGOs and development agencies have a conspicuous presence in facilitating capacity building, access to production resources and markets. Capacity building by NGOs and development agencies is expected to contribute to farm efficiency and sustainability by promoting and enhancing fertilizer use as well as increasing soil fertilities. However, the influence of these factors on technical efficiency as an important dimension of sustainability has not been further explored in Ghana. This study therefore assesses the influence of NGOs on technical efficiency among smallholder soybean farmers by applying stochastic frontier analysis. The data collected from 349 smallholder soybean producers in the three northern regions of Ghana are employed for the analysis. Results show that the mean technical efficiency of soybean production is 0.885, indicating a growth potential of 11.5%. Land area, agro-chemicals and seeds contribute to production growth while labor is over used. We find that NGO facilitation as well as group membership influences technical efficiency. Furthermore, farmers facilitated by NGOs and development agencies are 4.4 p.p. more efficient than non-facilitated farmers. Our study therefore implies that production and efficiency can be improved by providing more services to farmer group members and sustainable interventions from NGOs and social programs.

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Section: Production Function Of Soybean In Northern Ghanasupporting

confidence: 90%

Do NGOs and Development Agencies Contribute to Sustainability of Smallholder Soybean Farmers in Northern Ghana—A Stochastic Production Frontier Approach

et al. 2016

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“…Farrell (1957) identified not only the concept of having an actual measure of efficiency in a production system (such as a farming operation), but also outlined the difficulties in developing this estimate for very complex processes. For the study reported here, a stochastic frontier production function model was preferred as this best captures random effects associated with outliers, and has been widely used as the preferred method in studies of agricultural production systems in many countries (Abdulai et al, 2013;Ahmad and Bravo-Ureta, 1996;Thiam et al, 2001). We used the same equation as given in Abdulai et al (2013), and similarly used the computer program FRONTIER Version 4.1 (Coelli, 1996) to estimate TE based on a Cobb-Douglas production function (Aigner and Chu, 1968) using the data collected in each year.…”

Section: Technical Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Best practice recommendations for farmers are based on extensive field trials, which concentrate on producing as high yield as possible from a given set of inputs. The ability of farmers to improve yields and optimize economic returns depends on efficient farm practices, and technical efficiency (TE) is a commonly used measure of farm efficiency (Abdulai et al, 2013;Goyal and Suhag, 2003;Singh, 2007;Thiam et al, 2001). TE is defined as the ability of a decision-making unit (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of farming practices and performance for wheat production in Haryana, India

Coventry

Poswal

Yadav

et al. 2015

Agricultural Systems

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“…In spite of the drivers of technical efficiency identified in previous studies, maize farmers continue to experience low yields [27] depicting the failure of recommendations of previous studies to help address the productivity and efficiency challenges farmers have faced over the years. By way of literature review, [2] employed the stochastic frontier analysis procedure and estimated the technical efficiency of maize farmers in Northern Ghana to be 74%. The study concluded that their technical efficiencies were positively influenced by agricultural mechanization, experience and gender.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Achieving sustainable development goals on no poverty and zero hunger: Does technical efficiency of Ghana’s maize farmers matter?

Wongnaa

Awunyo‐Vitor

2018

Agric & Food Secur

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Background: Whether or not maize farmers are technically efficient determines their choice of productivity improvement strategy and very important for achieving the sustainable development goals on no poverty and zero hunger. This study examined technical efficiency and its determinants of Ghana's maize farmers. Analysis of the determinants is crucial to devising strategies aimed at improving technical efficiencies of the farmers as well as ensuring no poverty and zero hunger. Methods:The study used cross-sectional data collected from 576 maize farmers in the four main agro-ecological zones of Ghana with the aid of structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and the stochastic frontier production function were the methods of analysis used. Results:The results showed that the mean technical efficiency estimate for maize farmers in Ghana was 58.1%. They also revealed that an increase in educational level, maize farming experience, extension contact as well as uses of fertilizer and improved seeds would increase the technical efficiency of maize producers in Ghana. Similarly, male Ghanaian maize farmers were more technically efficient than female farmers. Furthermore, membership of a farmer association will increase their technical efficiencies. Finally, an increase in farm size and land fragmentation will decrease technical efficiency of the maize farmers.Conclusion: Efficiency improvement programmes by stakeholders in the maize industry could target literate maize farmers since education enhances the managerial and technical skills of farmers and also increase farmers' ability to utilize existing technologies. Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) could also liaise with Ministry of Education to provide maize farmers with no formal education with special training prior to introducing new efficiency enhancing programmes to them. MOFA should analyse the problems extension officers face in the discharge of their duties to pave the way for the provision of appropriate incentives to extension officers by stakeholders in the maize industry.

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Assessing the Economic Efficiency of Maize Production in Northern Ghana

Abstract: This study used the stochastic frontier model to examine the technical, allocative and economic efficiency of maize production in northern Ghana using cross-sectional

Cited by 41 publications

References 19 publications

Do NGOs and Development Agencies Contribute to Sustainability of Smallholder Soybean Farmers in Northern Ghana—A Stochastic Production Frontier Approach

Do NGOs and Development Agencies Contribute to Sustainability of Smallholder Soybean Farmers in Northern Ghana—A Stochastic Production Frontier Approach

A comparison of farming practices and performance for wheat production in Haryana, India

Achieving sustainable development goals on no poverty and zero hunger: Does technical efficiency of Ghana’s maize farmers matter?

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