IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/cmpart/198524.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Economic Efficiency of Rice Productionin Smallholder Irrigation Schemes: A Case of Nkhate Irrigation Scheme in Southern Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Magreta, Ruth

Abstract

This study used a parametric frontier approach to analyze technical, allocative and economic efficiency of smallholder rice farmers. It further explored the factors that influence the efficiency levels of the rice farmers. The study used a trans-log stochastic production function to analyze the technical efficiency. It used the trans-log cost frontier to analyze the economic efficiency. Results from these efficiencies led to the derivation of the allocative efficiency levels. It further used the inefficiency model to analyze the factors underlying efficiency differentials among the sampled farming households. Results revealed an average technical, allocative and economic efficiency levels of 65%, 59% and 53% respectively. This suggests that farmers have a rice yield potential of 35% to be exploited. The average economic efficiency level entails that farmers can raise their profitability or rice production by 47% by adjusting input use. Soil fertility status, access to credit, household size and farmers experience were the factors that influence the efficiency levels of smallholder rice farmers. It is thus recommended that for improved efficiency levels there is need for better policies and strategies that address input and output markets. Furthermore, farmer groups or associations can play a great role in ensuring that farmers get relevant technical advice, credit access as well as learn and share knowledge from each other.

Suggested Citation

  • Magreta, Ruth, 2011. "Economic Efficiency of Rice Productionin Smallholder Irrigation Schemes: A Case of Nkhate Irrigation Scheme in Southern Malawi," Research Theses 198524, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:cmpart:198524
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.198524
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/198524/files/Ruth%20Magreta%20MSc%20Thesis.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.198524?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. Liu, Zinan & Zhuang, Juzhong, 2000. "Determinants of Technical Efficiency in Post-Collective Chinese Agriculture: Evidence from Farm-Level Data," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 545-564, September.
    2. Tchale, Hardwick, 2009. "The efficiency of smallholder agriculture in Malawi," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 3(2), pages 1-21, September.
    3. 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.
    4. Sarker, Subhash Chandra & Abedin, Joynal & Islam, S. M. Fakhrul, 1999. "Performance Of Commercial Poultry Farms: A Profitability And Efficiency Analysis," Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, vol. 22(1), pages 1-13, June.
    5. 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.
    6. Tijani, A.A., 2006. "Analysis of the technical efficiency of rice farms in Ijesha Land of Osun State, Nigeria," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 45(2), pages 1-10, June.
    7. 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 325-332.
    8. Shanmugam, K.R., 2003. "Technical Efficiency of Rice, Groundnut and Cotton Farms in Tamil Nadu," Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Indian Society of Agricultural Economics, vol. 58(1), March.
    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. Magreta, Ruth & Edriss, Abdi-Khalil & Mapemba, Lawrence D. & Zingore, S., 2013. "Economic Efficiency of Rice Production in Smallholder Irrigation Schemes: A Case of Nkhate Irrigation Scheme in Southern Malawi," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161636, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    2. Koirala, Krishna H. & Mishra, Ashok K. & Sitienei, Isaac, 2015. "Farm Productivity and Technical Efficiency of Rural Malawian Households: Does Gender Make a Difference?," 2015 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2015, Atlanta, Georgia 196903, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    3. Hong, Yu & Heerink, Nico & Zhao, Minjuan & van der Werf, Wopke, 2019. "Intercropping contributes to a higher technical efficiency in smallholder farming: Evidence from a case study in Gaotai County, China," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 317-324.
    4. John K M & Wayo Seini, 2013. "Technical Efficiency Analysis of Maize Farmers in the Eastern Region of Ghana," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 4(2), pages 84-99.
    5. Anbes Tenaye, 2020. "Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Agriculture in Developing Countries: The Case of Ethiopia," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-27, April.
    6. Makuya, V. & Ndyetabula, D. & Mpenda, Z., 2018. "cost efficiency of watermelon production in Tanzania," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277128, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Muzungu Paul, Gatemberezi, 2011. "Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Irish Potato Production in Nyabihu District, Rwanda," Research Theses 243460, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    8. Obayelu, Abiodun Elijah & Adeoti, John Olatunji & Dontsop, Nguezet Paul Martins, 2017. "Technical Efficiency And Impact Evaluation Differentials Between The Adopters And Non-Adopters Of Nerica In The Six Baseline States In Nigeria," Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics (RAAE), Faculty of Economics and Management, Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, vol. 20(1), April.
    9. Mgomezulu, Wisdom Richard & Machira, Kennedy & Edriss, Abdi-Khalil & Pangapanga-Phiri, Innocent & Chitete, Moses M.N., 2022. "Responding to inefficiencies on smallholder maize farms: Can sustained adoption of sustainable agricultural practices make a difference?," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 17(4), December.
    10. Radha R. Ashrit, 2023. "Estimation of technical efficiency of Indian farms for major crops during 2013–2014 and 2017–2018: a stochastic Frontier production approach," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 1-32, February.
    11. Imori, Denise & Guilhoto, Joaquim José Martins & Postali, Fernando Antonio Slaibe, 2012. "Eficiência técnica das agropecuárias familiar e patronal – diferenças regionais no Brasil [Technical efficiency of agricultural households and business - regional differences in Brazil]," MPRA Paper 46954, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Chen, Zhuo & Huffman, Wallace E. & Rozelle, Scott, 2009. "Farm technology and technical efficiency: Evidence from four regions in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 153-161, June.
    13. Phatima MAMARDASHVILI & Dierk SCHMID, 2013. "Performance of Swiss dairy farms under provision of public goods," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 59(7), pages 300-314.
    14. Hai-Dang Nguyen & Thanh Ngo & Tu DQ Le & Huong Ho & Hai T.H. Nguyen, 2019. "The Role of Knowledge in Sustainable Agriculture: Evidence from Rice Farms’ Technical Efficiency in Hanoi, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-10, April.
    15. Zavale, Helder & Mabaya, Edward T. & Christy, Ralph D., 2006. "Smallholders' Cost Efficiency in Mozambique: Implications for Improved Maize Seed Adoption," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25648, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Daniel P. Kabore, 2016. "Technical efficiency of irrigated rice production in Burkina Faso water control infrastructures: A stochastic frontier approach," Asian Journal of Agriculture and rural Development, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 6(10), pages 188-200, October.
    17. Baha, Michael & Temu, Andrew & Philip, Damas, 2013. "Sources of Technical Efficiency Among Smallholders Maize Farmers in Babati District, Tanzania," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 1(2), July.
    18. Maganga, Assa M., 2010. "Determinants of smallholder maize supply to private traders and profitability: evidence from lilongwe district in central Malawi," MPRA Paper 34371, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Maganga M. Assa & Abdi-Khalil Edriss & Greenwell C. Matchaya, 2013. "Cost efficiency, Morishima, Allen-Uzawa and Cross-Price elasticities among Irish potato farmers in Dedza district, Malawi," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH), Kavala Campus, Greece, vol. 6(1), pages 59-73, April.
    20. 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.

    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:cmpart:198524. 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: http://www.agriculturaleconomics.net .

    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.