This study examines the farmspecific technical efficiency of smallholder rice farmers in the Upper East region of Ghana, during the cropping year 200203. Farmspecific technical efficiency is estimated by stochastic production frontier function, using the maximum likelihood estimation method. The results show that smallholder rice farmers are technically inefficient as they produce about 34% on an average, which is far below the maximum output. The most striking result is the significant difference between the mean technical efficiency for irrigators and nonirrigators, as well as the male and female farmers. The availability of credit, family size and nonfarm employment significantly determine the technical efficiency of smallholders. In conclusion, the authors suggest that the provision of education and credit, particularly towards women farmers should be accelerated, in order to improve technical efficiency of rice farmers.
The agricultural sector dominates the Ghanaian economy, contributing about 40% to the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employing more than 60% of the labor force, mostly
women (World Bank, 2002). The agricultural sector is also characterized by traditional
small-scale farming. Over 85% of Ghanaian farmers are smallholder operators, accounting for
over 80% of total agricultural production in Ghana, Ministry of Food and Agriculture
(MOFA), 2000. The economic policy in Ghana has largely been concerned with the efficiency
of agricultural production and agrarian organizations. It is, therefore, important to enhance
the technical efficiency at the farm-level, and to identify sources of inefficiency for policy
redress.
Rice has become an important crop in the Ghanaian economy. It symbolizes a commodity
within the liberalization of the Ghanaian economy. Rice import surge, and domestic
production of rice stagnate when productivity falls. Critics point towards the trade
liberalization affecting the rice industry while others point to the non-competitiveness of the
Ghanaian rice farmers. For smallholder rice farmers in Ghana, to increase their levels of
technical efficiency, there is the need to adopt new technology. Increased technical efficiency
will not only enable farmers to increase the employment of productive resources, but will also
give a direction of adjustments required in the long-run to become competitive and to increase
food production. There is evidence in Africa of the efficiency of smallholder farmers from
Kenya, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Malawi; Phiri, 1991; Olagoke,
1991; Bindish and Evenson, 1993; Udry, 1994; Adesina and Djato, 1996 and 1997;
Byiringiro and Reardon, 1996 and Chirwa, 2001. |
