Are farmers ‘efficient but poor’? The impact of crop choices on technical efficiency and poverty in Nigeria

IF 3.4 2区经济学 Q1 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS & POLICY Journal of Agricultural Economics Pub Date : 2022-06-30 DOI:10.1111/1477-9552.12501

Chisom Lotanna Ubabukoh, Katsushi S. Imai

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引用次数: 3

Abstract

We test the ‘efficient-but-poor’ hypothesis by estimating the determinants of smallholders' choice over cash or food crops and whether their crop choice affects technical efficiency and poverty using the national household panel data in Nigeria. We employ the stochastic frontier analyses correcting for sample selection about farmers' crop choice. Our results indicate that smallholders are generally efficient in their resource allocations. A treatment effects model is employed to estimate farmers' crop choice in the first stage and the impact of their choices on technical efficiency and poverty outcomes in the second stage. The results show that farmers' access to free inputs, non-farm income and the use of seeds from the previous growing season are important determinants of crop choice. The adoption of cash crops by food-crop producing households will not generally reduce poverty, although it will improve technical efficiency marginally. However, if cash crops are commercialised, poverty tends to decline.

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农民是“高效但贫穷”吗？作物选择对尼日利亚技术效率和贫困的影响

我们利用尼日利亚的全国家庭面板数据，估计了小农选择经济作物还是粮食作物的决定因素，以及他们的作物选择是否会影响技术效率和贫困，从而检验了“高效但贫穷”的假设。我们采用随机前沿分析来修正农民作物选择的样本选择。研究结果表明，小农的资源配置总体上是高效的。采用治理效应模型估计农民在第一阶段的作物选择以及他们的选择对第二阶段的技术效率和贫困结果的影响。结果表明，农民获得免费投入品、非农收入和使用前一个生长季节的种子是作物选择的重要决定因素。生产粮食作物的家庭采用经济作物一般不会减少贫困，尽管它会略微提高技术效率。然而，如果经济作物商业化，贫困就会减少。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Agricultural Economics 管理科学-农业经济与政策

CiteScore

7.90

自引率

2.90%

发文量

审稿时长

>24 weeks

期刊介绍： Published on behalf of the Agricultural Economics Society, the Journal of Agricultural Economics is a leading international professional journal, providing a forum for research into agricultural economics and related disciplines such as statistics, marketing, business management, politics, history and sociology, and their application to issues in the agricultural, food, and related industries; rural communities, and the environment. Each issue of the JAE contains articles, notes and book reviews as well as information relating to the Agricultural Economics Society. Published 3 times a year, it is received by members and institutional subscribers in 69 countries. With contributions from leading international scholars, the JAE is a leading citation for agricultural economics and policy. Published articles either deal with new developments in research and methods of analysis, or apply existing methods and techniques to new problems and situations which are of general interest to the Journal’s international readership.