Scale efficiency of maize farmers in four agro ecological zones of Ghana:A parametric approach

Abstract

The study analyzed scale efficiency parametrically for Ghana’s smallholder maize farms. The data usedwas obtained through a cross-sectional survey of 576 maize farmers in the Guinea Savannah,Transition, Forest and Coastal Savannah zones of Ghana using structured questionnaire. Descriptivestatistics and Ray’s (1998) proposed stochastic frontier analysis approach were the methods of analysisemployed. The results showed that the mean scale efficiencies were 86%, 91%, 89% and 86% for theGuinea Savannah, Transition, Forest and Coastal Savannah zones respectively, indicating that generally,scale inefficiencies existed in maize farms in the four agro ecological zones. The results further showedthat most maize farmers in each zone exhibit increasing returns to scale, indicating that their outputs fallbelow efficient levels and therefore their output could be increased for optimal scales to be reached.Finally, the results revealed that scale efficiency is explained by educational level, maize farming experi-ence, access to good roads and ready markets, group membership, extension contact, household size, landfragmentation as well as uses of fertilizer, pesticides and improved seeds. For scale efficiency to beimproved, maize farmers in the various agro ecological zones of Ghana are encouraged to employ moreof the production inputs available to them. For the farmers to be able to employ more of these inputs, costof production inputs could be subsidized and credit could be given to them by government.