IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaae07/52077.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Soil Fertility Management And Maize Productivity In Malawi: Curvature Correct Efficiency Modeling And Simulation

Author

Listed:
  • Tchale, Hardwick
  • Sauer, Johannes

Abstract

We assess the level and determinants of relative technical efficiency of maize-based smallholder farmers using a translog stochastic frontier (TL) model and a symmetric generalized Barnett production function (SGB), both of which are tested for economic regularity conditions. In addition, we conduct a bootstrapping procedure in order to infer about the probability distributions and significance of the relative efficiency values for farmers using different soil fertility management options. The results indicate that higher levels of relative technical efficiency obtain when farmers use integrated soil fertility options compared to the use of chemical fertilizer only. The consistency of the results across the two models increase the robustness of the findings. The paper concludes that productivity growth under the maize-based farming systems is considerably higher when farmers use integrated soil fertility management options. Thus there is need for policy and institutional interventions that enhance farmers’ adoption and scaling-up of integrated soil fertility management.

Suggested Citation

  • Tchale, Hardwick & Sauer, Johannes, 2008. "Soil Fertility Management And Maize Productivity In Malawi: Curvature Correct Efficiency Modeling And Simulation," 2007 Second International Conference, August 20-22, 2007, Accra, Ghana 52077, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaae07:52077
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.52077
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/52077/files/Tchale.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.52077?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Forsund, Finn R. & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1980. "A survey of frontier production functions and of their relationship to efficiency measurement," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 5-25, May.
    2. R.F. Townsend & J. Kirsten & N. Vink, 1998. "Farm size, productivity and returns to scale in agriculture revisited: a case study of wine producers in South Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 19(1-2), pages 175-180, September.
    3. Paul Mosley & Abrar Suleiman, 2007. "Aid, Agriculture and Poverty in Developing Countries," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 139-158, February.
    4. Helfand, Steven M. & Levine, Edward S., 2004. "Farm size and the determinants of productive efficiency in the Brazilian Center-West," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 241-249, December.
    5. E.T. Seyoum & G.E. Battese & E.M. Fleming, 1998. "Technical efficiency and productivity of maize producers in eastern Ethiopia: a study of farmers within and outside the Sasakawa‐Global 2000 project," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 19(3), pages 341-348, December.
    6. Smale, Melinda & Jayne, T.S., 2003. "Maize in Eastern and Southern Africa: 'seeds' of success in retrospect," EPTD discussion papers 97, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Dorward, Andrew & Kydd, Jonathan & Morrison, Jamie & Urey, Ian, 2004. "A Policy Agenda for Pro-Poor Agricultural Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 73-89, January.
    8. Mochebelele, Motsamai T. & Winter-Nelson, Alex, 2000. "Migrant Labor and Farm Technical Efficiency in Lesotho," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 143-153, January.
    9. Akinwumi A. Adesina & Moses M. Zinnah, 1993. "Technology characteristics, farmers' perceptions and adoption decisions: A Tobit model application in Sierra Leone," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 9(4), pages 297-311, December.
    10. Manfred Zeller & Aliou Diagne & Charles Mataya, 1998. "Market access by smallholder farmers in Malawi: implications for technology adoption, agricultural productivity and crop income," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 19(1-2), pages 219-229, September.
    11. Sherlund, Shane M. & Barrett, Christopher B. & Adesina, Akinwumi A., 2002. "Smallholder technical efficiency controlling for environmental production conditions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 85-101, October.
    12. I. Okike & M.A. Jabbar & V.M. Manyong & J.W. Smith & S.K. Ehui, 2004. "Factors Affecting Farm-specific Production Efficiency in the Savanna Zones of West Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 13(1), pages 134-165, March.
    13. Lilyan E. Fulginiti & Richard K. Perrin, 1998. "Agricultural productivity in developing countries," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 19(1-2), pages 45-51, September.
    14. Jonathan Kydd & Andrew Dorward, 2001. "The Washington Consensus on Poor Country Agriculture: Analysis, Prescription and Institutional Gaps," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 19(4), pages 467-478, December.
    15. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    16. Adesina, Akinwumi A. & Zinnah, Moses M., 1993. "Technology characteristics, farmers' perceptions and adoption decisions: A Tobit model application in Sierra Leone," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 9(4), pages 297-311, December.
    17. Freebairn, Donald K., 1995. "Did the Green Revolution Concentrate Incomes? A Quantitative Study of Research Reports," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 265-279, February.
    18. Zeller, Manfred & Diagne, Aliou & Mataya, Charles, 1998. "Market access by smallholder farmers in Malawi: implications for technology adoption, agricultural productivity and crop income," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 19(1-2), pages 219-229, September.
    19. Seyoum, E. T. & Battese, G. E. & Fleming, E. M., 1998. "Technical efficiency and productivity of maize producers in eastern Ethiopia: a study of farmers within and outside the Sasakawa-Global 2000 project," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 341-348, December.
    20. Udry, Christopher & Hoddinott, John & Alderman, Harold & Haddad, Lawrence, 1995. "Gender differentials in farm productivity: implications for household efficiency and agricultural policy," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 407-423, October.
    21. Almas Heshmati & Yilma Mulugeta, 1996. "Technical efficiency of the Ugandan matoke farms," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(7), pages 491-494.
    22. Okike, I O & Jabbar, Mohammad A. & Manyong, Victor M. & Smith, J W & Ehui, Simeon K., 2004. "Factors affecting farm specific production effieciency in the savanah zones of West Africa," Research Reports 182995, International Livestock Research Institute.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hardwick Tchale & Johannes Sauer, 2007. "The efficiency of maize farming in Malawi. A bootstrapped translog frontier," Post-Print hal-01201145, HAL.
    2. Tchale, Hardwick & Sauer, Johannes, 2007. "The efficiency of maize farming in Malawi. A bootstrapped translog frontier," Cahiers d'Economie et de Sociologie Rurales (CESR), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 82.
    3. Hardwick Tchale & Johannes Sauer, 2007. "The efficiency of maize farming in Malawi. A bootstrapped translog frontier," Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 82, pages 33-56.
    4. Chirwa Ephraim W., 2007. "Sources of Technical Efficiency among Smallholder Maize Farmers in Southern Malawi," Working Papers 172, African Economic Research Consortium, Research Department.
    5. Binam, Joachim Nyemeck & Tonye, Jean & wandji, Njankoua & Nyambi, Gwendoline & Akoa, Mireille, 2004. "Factors affecting the technical efficiency among smallholder farmers in the slash and burn agriculture zone of Cameroon," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 531-545, October.
    6. Boris Bravo-Ureta & Daniel Solís & Víctor Moreira López & José Maripani & Abdourahmane Thiam & Teodoro Rivas, 2007. "Technical efficiency in farming: a meta-regression analysis," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 57-72, February.
    7. Fleur Wouterse, 2010. "Migration and technical efficiency in cereal production: evidence from Burkina Faso," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(5), pages 385-395, September.
    8. Kenneth, Akankwasa & Gerald, Ortmann & Edilegnaw, Wale & Wilberforce, Tushemereirwe, 2012. "Ex-Ante Adoption of New Cooking Banana (Matooke) Hybrids in Uganda Based on Farmers' Perceptions," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 123302, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Medhin, Haileselassie A. & Köhlin, Gunnar, 2008. "Soil Conservation and Small-Scale Food Production in Highland Ethiopia: A Stochastic Metafrontier Approach," RFF Working Paper Series dp-08-22-efd, Resources for the Future.
    10. Olli-Pekka Kuusela & Maria S. Bowman & Gregory S. Amacher & Richard B. Howarth & Nadine T. Laporte, 2020. "Does infrastructure and resource access matter for technical efficiency? An empirical analysis of fishing and fuelwood collection in Mozambique," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1811-1837, March.
    11. Nelson Mango & Clifton Makate & Benjamin Hanyani-Mlambo & Shephard Siziba & Mark Lundy & Caroline Elliott, 2015. "A stochastic frontier analysis of technical efficiency in smallholder maize production in Zimbabwe: The post-fast-track land reform outlook," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1117189-111, December.
    12. Ogundari, Kolawole, 2009. "A Meta-Analysis Of Technical Efficiency In Nigerian Agriculture," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 50327, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Shalander Kumar & Abhishek Das & Michael Hauser & Geoffrey Muricho & Tulu Degefu & Asnake Fikre & Chris Ojiewo & Setotaw Ferede & Rajeev K. Varshney, 2022. "Estimating the potential to close yield gaps through increased efficiency of chickpea production in Ethiopia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(5), pages 1241-1258, October.
    14. Anthony Baffoe‐Bonnie & Genti Kostandini, 2019. "Annual and cropping season environmental production conditions effects on smallholder technical efficiency in sub‐Saharan Africa: Evidence from Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 50(6), pages 779-791, November.
    15. Akinola, Adebayo A. & Arega, D.A. & Adeyemo, Remi & Sanogo, Diakalia & Olanrewaju, Adetunji S. & Nwoke, C. & Nzigaheba, G. & Diels, J., 2008. "Determinants of adoption and intensity of use of balanced nutrient management systems technologies in the northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria," 2007 Second International Conference, August 20-22, 2007, Accra, Ghana 52007, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    16. Tite Ehuitché Beke, 2011. "Institutional constraints and adoption of improved rice varieties: Econometric evidence from Ivory Coast," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 92(2), pages 117-141.
    17. Akinola, Adebayo A. & Alene, Arega D. & Adeyemo, Remi & Sanogo, D. & Olanrewaju, A.S. & Nwoke, C. & Nziguheba, G., 2010. "Determinants of adoption and intensity of use of balance nutrient management systems technologies in the northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 49(1), pages 1-21.
    18. B Kelsey Jack, "undated". "Market Inefficiencies and the Adoption of Agricultural Technologies in Developing Countries," CID Working Papers 50, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    19. Agnes Gold & Stefan Gold, 2019. "Drivers of Farm Efficiency and Their Potential for Development in a Changing Agricultural Setting in Kerala, India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(4), pages 855-880, September.
    20. Wencheng Li & Lei Wang & Qi Wan & Weijia You & Shaowen Zhang, 2022. "A Configurational Analysis of Family Farm Management Efficiency: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:aaae07:52077. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaaeaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.