Measuring the technical efficiency of cassava and yam farmers in the Moronou region in Ivory Coast

Abstract

The objective of this paper was, on the one hand, to evaluate the level of technical efficiency of food crop farms in the Moronou region in Ivory Coast and, on the other hand, to analyze the determinants of this productive efficiency.  At the end of the investigations, it appears that producers are on average technically efficient in the considered food crops (yam and cassava). Indeed, the average technical efficiency indices are respectively 0.89 and 0.81 for yam and cassava. As for the analysis of the determinants of technical efficiency, it shows that variables such as household size, access to extension and credit (for yam cultivation only) and membership in an economic group (for cassava cultivation only) improve the technical efficiency of producers in the study area.

Keywords: yam, cassava, determinants, technical efficiency