Abstract
Understanding the technical efficiency of smallholder farmers is primordial in appraising their farming skills especially for cocoa farmers. In this paper, we examine the technical efficiency of small scale farmers across Africa particularly Cameroon. The study also explores the cocoa sector, its impacts on the Cameroonian economy and the challenges it currently faces. To achieve this, we carried out a comprehensive survey of published scientific literature obtained through Web of Science, Research gate, Mendeley, and Google Scholar. Using this approach, we observed that cocoa is vital in Cameroon’s economic development and that it is a sector dominated by smallholdings with inadequate access to economic and social resources. We also observed that provision of appropriate technical skills and financial access, would sustainably and enormously contribute to the growth of the cocoa sector, improve rural livelihoods and achieve food security.
Highlights
Agricultural production at the micro level strives to assist individual farmers or farming groups to attain their objectives [1]
We describe the cocoa sector and its impacts on the Cameroonian economy
The United States Department of Agriculture sponsored a tree crop production, marketing and livelihoods project in the Centre and South West Regions of Cameroon. This project executed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), is being implemented under four major components namely Production Activities, Income Generating activities, Capacity building activities, and Micro credit activities
Summary
Agricultural production at the micro level strives to assist individual farmers or farming groups to attain their objectives [1] This is more often achieved through efficient intra-farm allocation of resources at a particular time or over a period. Technical efficiencies are derived from production function or production possibility frontiers where it refers to the ability to avoid wastage This ability is either by producing as much output such as technology and input usage or by using as little input as required by technology and output production. Measuring efficiency on the farm may act as a success indicator, and performance measure This is because, when the sources of inefficiency are identified, policy formulations to improve farmers’ performance may be effectively done. We stress the challenges currently facing the cocoa sector and highlight ways in which they could be improved
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