Economic Efficiency of smallholder maize producers in Western Kenya: a DEA meta-frontier analysis

Richard Mulwa, Ali Emrouznejad and Lutta Muhammad

International Journal of Operational Research, 2009, vol. 4, issue 3, 250-267

Abstract: Maize is the main staple food for most Kenyan households, and it predominates where smallholder, as well as large-scale, farming takes place. In the sugarcane growing areas of Western Kenya, there is pressure on farmers on whether to grow food crops, or grow sugarcane, which is the main cash crop. Further, with small and diminishing land sizes, the question of productivity and efficiency, both for cash and food crops is of great importance. This paper, therefore, uses a two-step estimation technique (DEA meta-frontier and Tobit Regression) to highlight the inefficiencies in maize cultivation, and their causes in Western Kenya.

Keywords: economic efficiency; maize production; DEA; data envelopment analysis; meta-frontier; Tobit analysis; Kenya; smallholders; cash crops; food crops. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijores:v:4:y:2009:i:3:p:250-267

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