Gender differentials in technical efficiency of Ghanaian cocoa farms

Abstract

This study considers the presence of a gender gap in technical efficiency in Ghana's cocoa production sector. The two-stage double bootstrap data envelopment analysis (DEA) procedure was applied to estimate the biascorrected technical efficiency scores for male and female cocoa farm managers. The results indicate that there is a potential for male and female cocoa farm managers to increase output without altering the quantities of inputs employed. Applying the extended version of the Blinder-Oaxaca (B-O) decomposition approach, the findings suggest that female plot managers are, on average, less technically efficient compared to their male counterparts. This gap could be linked to differences in their resource endowments. Nevertheless, there are still significant unobservable factors that contribute to the gender efficiency gap. A comprehensive decomposition examination indicates that differences in educational attainment, engagement in non-farm activities, and farm size may contribute to the unexplained technical efficiency gap. The study recommends that female-sensitive programmes that seek to encourage the participation of non-farm activities and provide access to education and land utilization are essential in reducing the gender gap in technical efficiency.

Technical efficiency of cocoa farming in Gorontalo Province

“…Also, the negative correlation of education with inefficiency is in accordance with research [15] . Meanwhile, the negative correlation between the number of family members and inefficiency is in accordance with studies [11,16].…”

“…Also, to increase farmers' knowledge in cocoa production, education, and some basic skills such as reading and analysis are important. The research [11,15,16] conducted in Nigeria, Malaysia, and Ghana, respectively showed that farmers' education or knowledge has a positive correlation with production efficiency.…”

What is the impact of rural bank credit access on the technical efficiency of smallholder cassava farmers in Ghana? An endogenous switching regression analysis

“…Other studies have also tried to evaluate how credit impacts the welfare of farmers (Lakhan et al, 2020;Amanullah et al, 2019). Further, there are several studies on the technical efficiency of farmers of crops such as maize, rice, and cocoa (Danso-Abbeam et al, 2020;Martey et al, 2019;Abdulaai et al, 2018;Anang et al, 2017). However, there is little or no empirical evidence of the technical efficiency of cassava farmers, and most importantly, the impact of access to credit from RCBs on the technical efficiency of rural smallholder cassava farmers in rural Ghana; considering that currently, there are about 140 RCBs with close to 1000 branches scattered all over the country.…”

Technical efficiency and technology gaps of sorghum plots in Uganda: A gendered stochastic metafrontier analysis

“…There is mixed literature about TE of plot managers. Most studies have documented that female plot managers have lower TE and TGRs compared to their male counterparts (see for example, Tesfaye et al, 2015 ; Sell et al, 2018 ; Danso-Abbeam et al, 2020 ). However, other studies such as Simonyan et al (2015) show contrary results.…”