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Explaining Productivity Variation among Smallholder Maize Farmers in Tanzania

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Author Info
Msuya, Elibariki Emmanuel
Hisano, Shuji
Nariu, Tatsuhiko

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Abstract

Using a stochastic frontier production model proposed by Battese and Coelli (1995), the paper estimates the levels of technical efficiency of 233 smallholder maize farmers in Tanzania and provides an empirical analysis of the determinants of inefficiency with the aim of finding way to increase smallholders’ maize production and productivity. Results shows that smallholder productivity is very low and highly variable, ranging form 0.01t/ha to 6.77t/ha, averaging 1.19t/ha. Technical efficiencies of smallholder maize farmers range from 0.011 to 0.910 with a mean of 0.606. Low levels of education, lack of extension services, limited capital, land fragmentation, and unavailability and high input prices are found to have a negative effect on technical efficiency. Smallholder farmers using hand-hoe and farmers with cash incomes outside their farm holdings (petty business) are found to more efficient. However, farmers who use agrochemicals are found to be less efficient. Policy implications drawn from the results include a review of agricultural policy with regard to renewed public support to revamp the agricultural extension system, and interventions towards improving market infrastructure in order to reduce the transaction element in the input and output marketing.

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Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 14626.

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Date of creation: Jul 2008
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Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:14626

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Related research
Keywords: Productivity variation; smallholder farmers; technical efficiency; maize; tanzania;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Capital and Total Factor Productivity; Capacity

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  1. Battese, George E., 1992. "Frontier production functions and technical efficiency: a survey of empirical applications in agricultural economics," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 7(3-4), pages 185-208, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Battese, G E & Coelli, T J, 1995. "A Model for Technical Inefficiency Effects in a Stochastic Frontier Production Function for Panel Data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 325-32.
  3. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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