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Analysis of technical efficiency of small-scale commercial farmers in Vhembe district
- Source :
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension; Vol. 49 No. 1 (2021); 91-104
- Publication Year :
- 2023
- Publisher :
- South African Society for Agricultural Extension, 2023.
-
Abstract
- Small-scale commercial farmers are regarded as the strategic avenue to achieve meaningful development in rural areas of South Africa. The government acknowledged that the inclusion of small-scale commercial farming in its development strategies. The paper aims to measure the efficiency of small-scale commercial farming enterprises in Vhembe District in Limpopo Province. Quantitative data were collected from 217 small-scale commercial farmers using structured questionnaires. The data were standardized using a farming enterprise budget system and analysed using the maximum likelihood and stochastic frontier analysis. The results revealed that aggregate output was positive and significantly influenced by age, education level, farm experience, farm labour, and government grants. However, the projected stochastic production frontier model combined with the efficiency parameters showed that labour and credit computed a negative effect on technical efficiency. The results indicated that the average level of technical efficiency ranged between 20% and 96% with a mean of 54%. This indicates that there is potential to increase production among small-scale commercial farmers in the study area by 46 % through efficient use of existing resources. As such, the local government should provide necessary supports such as formal agriculture training, access to credit and information to increase productivity.
- Subjects :
- Intensive farming
business.industry
050204 development studies
05 social sciences
Production–possibility frontier
Technical efficiency, Stochastic frontier analysis, small-scale commercial farming
Agricultural science
Stochastic frontier analysis
Agriculture
Local government
Scale (social sciences)
0502 economics and business
050202 agricultural economics & policy
Rural area
business
Productivity
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0301603X and 24133221
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- South African Journal of Agricultural Extension
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ae315636a335ae2ed3d4894f00dd4c6d