Assessment of Technical Efficiency and Its Potential Determinants among Small-Scale Coffee Farmers in Rwanda

Abstract

Coffee production is the main economic activity for smallholder farmers in Rwanda; it is also a major export crop. However, Rwandan coffee production has been facing structural changes with a significant decline in production. Considering the importance of the coffee sector to rural livelihoods and its potential role in export earnings, there is a need to ensure that small-scale coffee farmers efficiently use scarce resources in their production activities. Thus, this study estimates the technical efficiency and possible sources of inefficiency in small-scale coffee farming in the Northern Province of Rwanda. Three hundred and twenty coffee farmers are sampled to carry out a simultaneous estimation of the stochastic production frontier and technical inefficiency model. The results indicate that the mean technical efficiency among small-scale coffee farmers is 82 percent, implying a potential to increase coffee production by 18 percent with the current level of resources and technology. Coffee production displays increasing returns to scale and factors such as education, access to credit, extension services, improved variety of coffee trees, cropping system, and land consolidation have a positive and significant effect on technical efficiency. Thus, development policies in the coffee sector might focus more on enhancing the accessibility of farmers to extension services and credit facilities. In addition, adoption of high-yielding and disease-resistant coffee varieties, better cropping systems, and management of coffee plantations in land consolidation might reduce technical inefficiency among coffee farmers in the Northern Province of Rwanda.

Analysis of Technical Efficiency and Its Potential Determinants among Smallholder Tomato Farmers in Siltie Zone, Southern Ethiopia

“…On the other hand, 1 percent increase in frequency of irrigation for tomato production will lead to a 0.124 percent increase in tomato production. This result is consistent with the findings of Khan et al (2010) and Ngango et al (2019).…”

“…Or the mean of TE indicates that if sample households operated at full efficiency level, they would increase their output by 19.3% using the existing resources and level of technology. This mean score is in line with a similar study conducted by Ngango et al (2019) who observed a mean technical efficiency level of 82% amongst coffee growers in the Rwanda. As indicated in the table technical efficiency ranges from 0.25 to 0.977.…”

“…We found that land size was associated with an elasticity coefficient of 0.20, implying that a 1 percent increase in the area under tomato plantation will lead to a 0.20 percent increase in tomato production. This finding conforms to prior expectations, and concurs with Pretty et al (2011), Zalkuw et al (2014), Fatima and Khan (2015), Ngango et al (2019).…”

Determinants of Technical Inefficiencies of Sweet Potato Farming in Kuningan District

“…This shows that the land used for sweet potato farming is land that lacks soil nutrients. These results are consistent with findings from Ngango and Kim [10].…”

A importância da gestão na competitividade dos cafezais da Alta Mogiana Paulista

“…Souza et al (2017) discutem que, em detrimento de imperfeições de mercado (por exemplo a falta de informações e do acesso à educação), a assistência técnica e extensão rural podem ser vistas como não importantes na eficiência produtiva, sendo uma conclusão equivocada. Ngango & Kim (2019) afirmam que a educação e serviços de extensão, dentre outros fatores, possibilitam o aumento da eficiência técnica da produção de café.…”