Assessing the technical efficiency of maize producers with Imazapyr-resistant maize for Striga control in Western Kenya

Abstract

Imazapyr-Resistant Maize (IRM) is a weed control technology, not yet well adopted in theStriga prone area in Western Kenya. The adoption may expand in the future because itenhances maize production via efficiency gains. As to help farmers maximize the maize output affected by Striga for so long in time, research and development initiatives with substantial participation of the private sector to shift to this novel technology have been made in Western Kenya. A multistage random sampling technique was used to select a total of 600households from Nyanza and Western provinces for this study. Stochastic production frontier analysis was the analytical method and the study revealed that the mean technical efficiency in the maize production sector is 70% indicating some inefficiencies of maize production. Technical inefficiency effects were influenced by household size along with farm size. Enhancing the technical efficiency will increase net returns of maize production enterprises, hence, improving livelihoods of maize producers. Key words: Kenya, technical efficiency, stochastic production frontier.