Abstract
In Guinea, the national rice consumption exceeds rice production, leading to concerns about food security. Thus, recent governmental measures have been directed towards promoting rice production, particularly in the coastal areas, the only zone where the mangrove rice production is practiced. Rice is the most important food crop and its production is the most organized food production system in the country. Therefore, it’s of interest to examine the efficiency of mangrove rice production, in this study an attempt is made to determine the technical efficiency of mangrove rice production by using the stochastic frontier model. The study used primary data collected through a field survey. The analysis revealed that farm area and depreciation cost of farm tools contribute to significantly enhance the mangrove rice productivity. The inefficiency model revealed that age of household head, household size, farming experience, off-farm income and remittance significantly influenced the technical efficiency. The mean level of the technical efficiency was estimated at 23%, while the efficiency ranged from 0.0% to 100%. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that the loss due to the inefficiency was significant with a value of 8,838,762 Guinean Francs per acre. Policy recommendations and strategies for improving the efficiency of mangrove rice production are advocated based on the findings.
Highlights
Mangrove rice cultivation began in the middle of the eighteenth century in Sierra Leone and Guinea (CEC, 1992)
According to Carr (2013) (Note 4), among the issues concerning with the future welfare of the African continent and its people pertains to the farm size
Among the inputs incorporated into the Cobb-Douglas production function, results revealed that only the farm area and the depreciation cost of farm tools have contributed to the performance of the mangrove rice production
Summary
Mangrove rice cultivation began in the middle of the eighteenth century in Sierra Leone and Guinea (CEC, 1992). Traditional cultivation practices are still the most widespread and they are followed, for example, in Senegal (the diola system), Guinea Bissau (the bolanha system), Guinea (the Bora-male) and Sierra Leone. The diola and bolanha systems consist of small basins or strips of land that are surrounded by small dikes. Within these “polders” the rice is cultivated on ridges. The tidal rice-cultivation system practiced in the Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone consists of flooded rice cultivation during the seasonal period of freshwater flows of the major rivers. In order to reduce production risks, both the salt-free period and the rice variety should be appropriate. The Maritime Guinea or Lower Guinea extends 300 kilometers along the coast and covers an area of 47,400 km, making it the largest in the West Africa (GRG, 2002)
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