Agricultural Technological Change and Technical Efficiency of Crop Production in Ethiopia

Authors

  • Sisay Debebe College of Business and Economics, Department of Economics, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia Author
  • Endale Gebre College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, Michigan, USA Author
  • Tadesse Kuma Agriculture & Rural Development Policy Research Center, Policy Study, Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Author

Keywords:

Agriculture technologies, technical inefficiency, Panel stochastic frontier, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Proper utilization of agricultural technology and enhancing the technical efficiency of crop production are key factors for agricultural output growth in Ethiopia. However, the lack of studies that assess the broad set of agricultural technological change and efficiency of multiple crop production together using longitudinal datasets poses major challenges in identifying crop production impediments in Ethiopia. This study explores agricultural technological changes (specifically fertilizer, improved seed, pesticides, irrigation, and extension services) and the factors contributing to technical inefficiency in crop production in Ethiopia. National-level representative longitudinal data sets from 2004/05 to 2018/19 were obtained from the Central Statistics Authority and the Ethiopian Meteorology Agency-(EMA) as data sources in Ethiopia. A panel stochastic frontier model using a true fixed-effect econometrics model was applied to estimate the coefficients of the elasticity production coefficients, identify technical inefficiency factors, and estimate the level of technical efficiency scores for multiple aggregate crops at the national and regional levels. This study assessed the trends in agricultural technology use from 2004/05 to 2018/19 in Ethiopia. In response to the increased utilization of land, labor and inputs such as chemical fertilizer, pesticides, improved seeds and improved practices through expanded extension coverage, the use of irrigation, and the availability of rainfall and temperature, good progress in agricultural production and productivity was observed from 2004/05 to 2018/19.  However, there is a less adequate supply of agricultural production input technologies and the intensive utilization of irrigation is highly insufficient. Furthermore, the elasticity coefficient estimates with respect to labor, cultivated area, chemical fertilizer, and pesticide have positive and significant effects on crop output, indicating the importance of these inputs. However, the use of capital and local seed had negative and statistically significant impacts on crop output from 2004/05 to 2018/19 in different regions of Ethiopia. The overall technical efficiency value of 73.84% at the national level shows room for further increasing yield using existing technologies by working on inefficiency factors. Additionally, the room for further boosting yield is wide and differs across major regions in Ethiopia. The future crop output growth will be driven by a combination of enhancing the use of agriculture technologies and efficiency of crop production through promoting the use of suitable, reliable and affordable modern agriculture technologies, revitalized agricultural advisory services, mechanization services, providing targeted affordable credit services, land consolidation by cluster farming, deployment of a labor force, and the intensive use of irrigation systems over the coming years.

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Published

27-08-2024

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Agricultural Technological Change and Technical Efficiency of Crop Production in Ethiopia. (2024). Ethiopian Journal of Economics, 32(2), 114-140. https://ethiopianjournalofeconomics.org/index.php/EJE/article/view/257

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