Technical efficiency of smallholder producers in barley production in Northern Ethiopia

AbstractBarley is among the major staple cereal crops in Ethiopia. Despite this, the smallholder barley producers experienced a lower level of technical efficiency due to different factors. Thus, this study is designed to estimate the level of technical efficiency and identify factors affecting the...

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Main Authors: Enatye Moges, Endrias Geta, Tigist Mekonnen, Dubale Abate
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:Cogent Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2269723
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author Enatye Moges
Endrias Geta
Tigist Mekonnen
Dubale Abate
author_facet Enatye Moges
Endrias Geta
Tigist Mekonnen
Dubale Abate
author_sort Enatye Moges
collection DOAJ
description AbstractBarley is among the major staple cereal crops in Ethiopia. Despite this, the smallholder barley producers experienced a lower level of technical efficiency due to different factors. Thus, this study is designed to estimate the level of technical efficiency and identify factors affecting the level of technical efficiency of smallholder barley producers. The data are collected from 200 randomly selected barley producers through a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and econometrics model are used to analyze data. The stochastic production frontier (Cobb–Douglas production function) and Tobit model were used to estimate the level of technical efficiency and identify factors affecting inefficiency, respectively. The stochastic production frontier model result revealed that there is a space to increase barley output by increasing the use of farm inputs. The mean of barley output for sample households in the 2017/18 production season was 19.5 quintals. The average level of technical efficiency of sample households was 75.1%, which implies that output can be increased by 24.9%. The frontier model indicated that labor, oxen power, fertilizer, land and seed had positive and significant effects on barley production. The Tobit model result shows that technical efficiency was affected by sex, education, livestock number, non-farm activities, credit use and non-input total expenditure. This shows that there is a room to increase technical efficiency of barley production in the study area. Therefore, appropriate policies and strategies directed towards the above-mentioned significant variable should be designed to improve the productivity of barley in the study area.
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spelling doaj.art-958a87372d7f4ff19cec7a107489e2242023-12-12T12:45:37ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Social Sciences2331-18862023-12-019210.1080/23311886.2023.2269723Technical efficiency of smallholder producers in barley production in Northern EthiopiaEnatye Moges0Endrias Geta1Tigist Mekonnen2Dubale Abate3Department of Agricultural Economics, Injibara University, Injibara, EthiopiaAgricultural Economics, Research Center Institution, Hawasa, EthiopiaDepartment of Agricultural Economics, World Bank, Washington, DC, USADepartment of Agribusiness and Value Chain Management, Injibara University, Injibara, EthiopiaAbstractBarley is among the major staple cereal crops in Ethiopia. Despite this, the smallholder barley producers experienced a lower level of technical efficiency due to different factors. Thus, this study is designed to estimate the level of technical efficiency and identify factors affecting the level of technical efficiency of smallholder barley producers. The data are collected from 200 randomly selected barley producers through a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and econometrics model are used to analyze data. The stochastic production frontier (Cobb–Douglas production function) and Tobit model were used to estimate the level of technical efficiency and identify factors affecting inefficiency, respectively. The stochastic production frontier model result revealed that there is a space to increase barley output by increasing the use of farm inputs. The mean of barley output for sample households in the 2017/18 production season was 19.5 quintals. The average level of technical efficiency of sample households was 75.1%, which implies that output can be increased by 24.9%. The frontier model indicated that labor, oxen power, fertilizer, land and seed had positive and significant effects on barley production. The Tobit model result shows that technical efficiency was affected by sex, education, livestock number, non-farm activities, credit use and non-input total expenditure. This shows that there is a room to increase technical efficiency of barley production in the study area. Therefore, appropriate policies and strategies directed towards the above-mentioned significant variable should be designed to improve the productivity of barley in the study area.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2269723cobb-douglasstochastic production frontiertobitinefficiency
spellingShingle Enatye Moges
Endrias Geta
Tigist Mekonnen
Dubale Abate
Technical efficiency of smallholder producers in barley production in Northern Ethiopia
Cogent Social Sciences
cobb-douglas
stochastic production frontier
tobit
inefficiency
title Technical efficiency of smallholder producers in barley production in Northern Ethiopia
title_full Technical efficiency of smallholder producers in barley production in Northern Ethiopia
title_fullStr Technical efficiency of smallholder producers in barley production in Northern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Technical efficiency of smallholder producers in barley production in Northern Ethiopia
title_short Technical efficiency of smallholder producers in barley production in Northern Ethiopia
title_sort technical efficiency of smallholder producers in barley production in northern ethiopia
topic cobb-douglas
stochastic production frontier
tobit
inefficiency
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2023.2269723
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AT tigistmekonnen technicalefficiencyofsmallholderproducersinbarleyproductioninnorthernethiopia
AT dubaleabate technicalefficiencyofsmallholderproducersinbarleyproductioninnorthernethiopia