Cogent Social Sciences (Dec 2024)
Wheat crop producers’ technical efficiency and its determinants in Oromia region of Ethiopia: evidence from West Shewa zone
Abstract
AbstractThis study aimed to analyze the technical efficiency of wheat production and sources of inefficiency among smallholder farmers in the West Shewa Zone, Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia. The study employed a two-stage random sampling method to select 199 wheat-producing households during the 2018/19 production season. The stochastic Cobb-Douglas production function was estimated to measure the level of technical efficiency. The estimation result of the parameters that entered the production function which is given in the form of partial production elasticities with a direct interpretation of its parametric coefficients with respect to the input used revealed that, a 1% increase in land, labor, DAP, chemical, and oxen power increases the wheat output of farmers by 0.335%, 0.305%, 0.009%, 0.006%, and 0.129%, respectively. As the results indicated the mean technical efficiency was 0.82, implying on average, farmers can increase output by 18%. Out of the total sampled farmers, 68.84% of them operated in a technical efficiency range between 0.61 to 0.90. Educational level, frequency of extension contact, credit utilization, wheat production experience, soil fertility status, and access to training are negatively determined technical inefficiency levels. However, labor hours spent on off-farm/non-farm activities positively affect the technical inefficiency level of farmers. Improving farmers’ knowledge and skills by strengthening education and providing continuous training, promoting better credit facilities via the establishment of adequate rural financial institutions, and enhancing the existing extension service can be considered a panacea to improve the existing inefficiency in the study area.
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