Abstract
Integrating best management practices and improving the technical efficiency of smallholder maize farmers is critical in raising overall agricultural output. However, there is not much information, besides marginalization and high rehabilitation and maintenance costs, which adequately explains why productivity of smallholder irrigation farmers drop at very high rates. Therefore, this study measured technical efficiency, identified factors affecting technical efficiency, and identified best management practices adopted by smallholder maize irrigation farmers at Tokwane-Ngundu (Zimbabwe). The Data Envelopment Analysis, Double Bootstrap Approach in a Principal Component Regression was used. Primary data were gathered using a questionnaire. Empirical results revealed that the mean technical efficiency of the respondents was 77%, which indicated a potential for them to increase their efficiency by 30%. The factors that increased technical efficiency included human capital, extension contacts and compliance with best management practices. The policy implication of this study is the need for robust group incentive schemes to promote farmer-to-farmer skills transfer to boost the technical efficiency of smallholder maize irrigation farmers in Zimbabwe.
Highlights
Empirical results revealed that the mean technical efficiency of the respondents was 77%, which indicated a potential for them to increase their efficiency by 30%
Agriculture has been the mainstay of the Zimbabwean economy and Zimbabwe was regarded as the bread basket of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region [1]
The aim of this paper was to measure technical efficiency, identify factors affecting technical efficiency, and to identify best management practices adopted by smallholder maize irrigation farmers at Tokwane-Ngundu in Zimbabwe
Summary
Agriculture has been the mainstay of the Zimbabwean economy and Zimbabwe was regarded as the bread basket of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region [1]. The government of Zimbabwe has strived to entrench a new integrated agricultural dispensation characterized by agrarian reforms where both large and small-scale farmers can compete on local and international commodity markets [2]. Within the wider ambit of agrarian reforms in Zimbabwe, small-scale irrigation schemes became prominent and were expected to remedy economic, social, and political relations. Smallholder irrigation schemes in Southern Africa, instead of eradicating poverty, boosting food security, and promoting sustainable livelihoods, have often been criticized for their low agricultural productivity and negative environmental impact. Information as to why productivity of smallholder irrigation farmers drop at very high rates is lacking. This bothered Zimbabwean agricultural policy makers who expected smallholder irrigation farmers to use irrigation technology to boost
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