Total Factor Productivity of Major Crops in Southern Ethiopia: A Dis-Aggregated Analysis of the Growth Components

Merihun Fikru Meja, Bamlaku Alamirew Alemu and Maru Shete
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Merihun Fikru Meja: Center of Rural Development, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Bamlaku Alamirew Alemu: Department of Project Planning & Management, Yom Institute of Economic Development, P.O. Box 62539, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: (1) Background: Even though agriculture is the backbone of the Ethiopian economy, the improvements made regarding crop productivity appeared insufficient and had slow progress. Several studies suggest possible ways to identify the challenges in the productivity of the crop sub-sector. Nevertheless, there are gaps in the empirical literature in both knowledge and methods. The current study intends to identify the factors that affect growth in the productivity of teff, maize, barley, wheat, and sorghum crops. (2) Methods: Cobb-Douglass stochastic production function is estimated using a panel data set of the Living Standard Measurement Survey. To address the objectives of the study, a parametric estimation with a time-varying decay model with deterministic and stochastic components was adopted. (3) Results and Discussion: The effect of inputs on aggregate output was positive and significant at the 1% significance level, implying the presence of economies of scale. Variation in the inefficiency term explained 46.4% of the total variance in the composed error term. The average productivity of major crops was 6.19 per year. This study implied that technical change in the production of major crops increased by 22% with better use of available technology. (4) Conclusions and Policy Implication: The findings pinpoint that farmers should focus on technical change and intensification of improved agricultural inputs.

Keywords: Cobb Douglas production function; technical efficiency; technical change; productivity; teff; maize; barley; wheat; sorghum (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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