Influence of Collective Action Participation on Technical Efficiency among Smallholder Producers: A Case of Banana Farmers in Kisii and Nyamira, Kenya

Wilfred Omondi^1, , Hillary Bett¹ and Timothy Njagi²

¹Department of Agricultural Economics, Egerton University, Nakuru, Kenya

²Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development, Nairobi, Kenya

Cite this paper

Wilfred Omondi, Hillary Bett and Timothy Njagi. Influence of Collective Action Participation on Technical Efficiency among Smallholder Producers: A Case of Banana Farmers in Kisii and Nyamira, Kenya. Journal of Food Security. 2020; 8(3):105-116. doi: 10.12691/JFS-8-3-4

Abstract

The main aim of the paper is to analyse the influence of collective action participation defined as group participation on technical efficiency among smallholder banana producers in Kisii and Nyamira Counties, Kenya. Using stochastic frontier approach, the study evaluated how farmers in collective action differ from non-collective action participants in terms of technical efficiency levels of banana production as well as the factors responsible for inefficiencies among farmers. Logistic regression model is also used to determine the characteristics of group participation among the smallholder producers. The findings were based on cross-sectional data with a sample size of 260 smallholder banana producing households obtained through a multi-stage sampling technique. From the results obtained from logistic regression, salaried occupation had a significant adverse effect on group participation, while age, gender, education level, informal occupation, mobile phone ownership and access to extension advice had a significant positive impact. Besides, the stochastic production frontier model estimates showed that group members were more technically efficient than non-members at the 1% significance level. Field size, use of manure and inorganic fertilizer had a significant positive effect on productivity levels with high returns to scale exhibited among non-group members. Inefficiency levels were significantly affected by the age, gender and occupation of the household head. In conclusion, collective action helps farmers to address various production needs, thus making them more technically efficient.

Keywords

stochastic frontier model, group participation, inefficiency levels

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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