An Estimation of the Determinants of Efficiency of Rice Farmers in Benin: A Case Study of the Departments of Mono and Couffo
Loading...
Date
2021-09-17
Authors
Houngue, Véronique
Nonvide, Gbêtondji Melaine Armel
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research Consortium
Abstract
Rice is an important component in the quest for food security in Benin, but its
production remains low and thus needs to be optimized. This study estimated
technical as well as allocative efficiency and identified the sources of the inefficiency of
rice farmers in Benin, with specific focus on the departments of Mono and Couffo. The
study used secondary data obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Fisheries. The data covers 210 rice farmers evenly spread out within the departments
of Mono and Couffo. The Cobb-Douglas production frontier method was used to
measure the level of technical efficiency of farmers, while allocative efficiency was
examined using the marginal product value method. The results reveal that the
technical efficiency of producers is at 78%, and that there are therefore possibilities
of increasing rice production. The sources of inefficiency are age, sex, the level of
education and access to finance. The results also revealed the existence of allocative
inefficiency in rice cultivation. Manpower is overused whereas other production
factors such as seeds, pesticides, and fertilizer are underutilized. Allocative efficiency
is explained by sex, age, the area sown, the type of crop, and access to finance. These
results indicate that rice farmers in the departments of Mono and Couffo would
benefit from adopting the best agricultural practices such as the use of fertilizer,
agro-chemical products, and irrigation.
Description
Keywords
Efficiency; . , Rice production; , Mono; , Couffo; , Benin