A Stochastic Frontier Approach for Measuring Technical Efficiency of Small-Scale Improved Salt Production in Guinea

Abstract

Salt production is a major driving force behind the loss of mangrove in Guinea. As the traditional salt production causes increasing deforestation, the intensive exploitation of mangrove resources has now reached a critical threshold. Therefore, improved techniques using sunlight as the source of energy has been introduced as an alternative to the traditional salt production techniques which consumes a significant amount of mangrove wood. Therefore, it's of interest to examine the efficiency of the new salt production technique, in this an attempt is made to determine the technical efficiency of salt producers adopting the improved techniques by using the stochastic frontier analysis method. The study used primary data collected through a survey. A sample of 100 salt producers was interviewed during March-April 2013. However, this study considers only 65 producers using the improved salt production techniques along the Guinean coast in Koba, particularly in Balessourou district. The results revealed that labor cost and dimension of the basins contribute to enhance the performance of salt production in terms of revenue earned. Inefficiency model indicated that membership in salt producer organizations, producers' participation in activities organized by local and/or international institutions; family size and land rent significantly influenced technical inefficiency. Results also highlighted the fact that even the best producers were inefficient. The mean level of their technical efficiencies was estimated at 27%, while the efficiency ranged from 0.0 to 92%. In addition, the estimation of the loss due to the inefficiency occurring seasonally was significant and valued at 601,024 Guinean francs per basin. In order to improve the efficiency of salt production, this study advocates some strategies such as coating basins for minimizing the loss of salt during extraction, encouraging producers' participation in activities organized by the government and its partners and strengthening producers' organizations to enhance producer participation in salt production.

An Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Mangrove Rice Production in the Guinean Coastal Area

“…This finding confirms the results of previous studies conducted by Idiong (2007), Tijani (2006). However, a study (Balde et al, 2014c) conducted in the same site focusing on the technical efficiency of salt production found that younger salt producers were more efficient than the older ones. With respect to education level, it is significant but has a negative impact (positive impact on the technical inefficiency) to the technical efficiency of the mangrove rice production.…”

“…This implies that the investment in labor forces in the mangrove rice production in Koba (Boffa prefecture) does not bring improvement in productivity. Therefore, a previous study (Balde et al, 2014c) related to the technical efficiency measurement in the same study area found that the investment in labor could bring a significant improvement in performance of salt production. In addition, a study (Balde et al, 2013a) on mangrove rice production in the coastal area of Dubreka prefecture, in Guinea also found that among all inputs included under the average variable costs (fertilizer cost, pesticide cost, herbicide cost, hired labor cost, local and improved varieties cost), the hired labor per hectare represented the highest variable input in terms of cost (77 to 97% of variable cost according the different type of rice varieties under consideration).…”

“…As highlighted in Balde et al (2014c), there are three possible ways to increase mangrove rice production in the coastal area of Guinea. Firstly, by allocating more land, secondly by developing and adopting new technologies and thirdly by utilizing the available resources more efficiently.…”