Technical efficiency and technology gaps among smallholder maize farmers in Ethiopia
Despite advancements in agricultural technology, food insecurity and poverty remain significant challenges in many developing countries. This situation is severe in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where rural poverty and food insecurity are on the rise, becoming critical developmental issues. Consequently...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Sustainable Futures |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825001893 |
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| author | Abebayehu Girma Geffersa Frank W. Agbola |
| author_facet | Abebayehu Girma Geffersa Frank W. Agbola |
| author_sort | Abebayehu Girma Geffersa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Despite advancements in agricultural technology, food insecurity and poverty remain significant challenges in many developing countries. This situation is severe in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where rural poverty and food insecurity are on the rise, becoming critical developmental issues. Consequently, enhancing the production of staple crops is essential for achieving food security in the region. In this paper, we investigate the impact of adopting improved maize varieties (IMV) on technical efficiency and technology gap in maize production. Using household panel data, we estimate a true fixed-effects stochastic meta-frontier model and account for technological variation and unobservable farm heterogeneity. Our results indicate that farmers who adopted IMV achieved a 13.3% increase in technical efficiency compared to non-adopters. We find an 11.3% technology gap between adopters and non-adopters of IMV. These findings highlight the importance of promoting IMV adoption to enhance technical efficiency in maize production and contribute to food security in Ethiopia. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e5ca12bf47534de58bebf7c1b3d7caa5 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2666-1888 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sustainable Futures |
| spelling | doaj-art-e5ca12bf47534de58bebf7c1b3d7caa52025-08-20T02:07:02ZengElsevierSustainable Futures2666-18882025-06-01910062010.1016/j.sftr.2025.100620Technical efficiency and technology gaps among smallholder maize farmers in EthiopiaAbebayehu Girma Geffersa0Frank W. Agbola1The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Agriculture and Food Research Unit, Canberra, AustraliaNewcastle Business School, The University of Newcastle, Australia; Corresponding author.Despite advancements in agricultural technology, food insecurity and poverty remain significant challenges in many developing countries. This situation is severe in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where rural poverty and food insecurity are on the rise, becoming critical developmental issues. Consequently, enhancing the production of staple crops is essential for achieving food security in the region. In this paper, we investigate the impact of adopting improved maize varieties (IMV) on technical efficiency and technology gap in maize production. Using household panel data, we estimate a true fixed-effects stochastic meta-frontier model and account for technological variation and unobservable farm heterogeneity. Our results indicate that farmers who adopted IMV achieved a 13.3% increase in technical efficiency compared to non-adopters. We find an 11.3% technology gap between adopters and non-adopters of IMV. These findings highlight the importance of promoting IMV adoption to enhance technical efficiency in maize production and contribute to food security in Ethiopia.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825001893D13O13Q12Q18 |
| spellingShingle | Abebayehu Girma Geffersa Frank W. Agbola Technical efficiency and technology gaps among smallholder maize farmers in Ethiopia Sustainable Futures D13 O13 Q12 Q18 |
| title | Technical efficiency and technology gaps among smallholder maize farmers in Ethiopia |
| title_full | Technical efficiency and technology gaps among smallholder maize farmers in Ethiopia |
| title_fullStr | Technical efficiency and technology gaps among smallholder maize farmers in Ethiopia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Technical efficiency and technology gaps among smallholder maize farmers in Ethiopia |
| title_short | Technical efficiency and technology gaps among smallholder maize farmers in Ethiopia |
| title_sort | technical efficiency and technology gaps among smallholder maize farmers in ethiopia |
| topic | D13 O13 Q12 Q18 |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825001893 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT abebayehugirmageffersa technicalefficiencyandtechnologygapsamongsmallholdermaizefarmersinethiopia AT frankwagbola technicalefficiencyandtechnologygapsamongsmallholdermaizefarmersinethiopia |