Abstract
As the independent Benin's first export crop, oil palm continues to play an important role in the Beninese economy and society despite the decline in its production that has begun since the 1970s. It is present in most cropping systems throughout southern Benin. The objective of this article is, on the one hand, to assess the level of technical efficiency of oil palm fruit processing units in South-East Benin and, on the other hand, to analyze the determinants of this technical efficiency. The so-called "two-step" method was used, which consists of using a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model for the analysis of technical efficiency scores followed by a Tobit regression model to analyze the determinants of technical efficiency. The data used were collected in 2018 within the Adja-Ouèrè municipality. The results obtained show that the average technical efficiency score of the processing units is 0.891, which means that it is still possible to improve the production. The analysis of the determinants of technical efficiency showed that variables such as membership to an agricultural producer organization and the number of direct relatives involved in the processing activity improve the technical efficiency of oil palm fruit processing units. Key words: Oil palm fruit processing, the so-called "two-step" method, data envelopment analysis, Tobit model, Benin.
Highlights
IntroductionThe introduction of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) in Dahomey (present-day Benin) goes as far back as two centuries ago
The introduction of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) in Dahomey goes as far back as two centuries ago
The second column presents the efficiency scores generated by the model under the assumption of constant returns to scale technical efficiency (CRSTE), called total efficiency, which is further broken down into two other types of efficiency: pure efficiency, which is variable returns to scale technical efficiency (VRSTE), presented in the third column, and scale efficiency, presented in the fourth column
Summary
The introduction of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) in Dahomey (present-day Benin) goes as far back as two centuries ago. The expansion of its production was encouraged by King Guezo (1818-1858) (Dissou, 1972; Soumonni, 1995). From 1960 to 1970, rural development policy focused on the promotion of oil palm with the creation of the National Society for Rural Development (SONADER). Oil palm production increased from 6,000 tonnes in 1966 to 14,300 tonnes in 1970 (Beck, 1995). Over the last fifty years, several problems have hindered the development of oil palm production in Benin. They can be grouped into three categories:
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