Abstract
The main objective of this study was to identify and analyze the sources of inefficiency in family operated small agricultural properties in the Brazilian state of Bahia’s Recôncavo region from a sample of 44 producers. A non-parametric approach, in the context of cost minimizing behavior under constant returns to scale, was used to estimate the indices of technical, scale, allocative, and total (economic or cost) efficiency. Results indicated that the largest source small family farm inefficiency in the Recôncavo region is allocative inefficiency, that is to say, the non-observance of price relationships when making production decisions. On the average, 79.1% of these farms’ total inefficiency is due to allocative inefficiency, 9.3% to technical inefficiency, and 11.7% to scale inefficiency.
Highlights
The central focus of this work is the structure of small family farm agricultural production in the Recôncavo region of the state of Bahia, Brazil
According the Brazilian Agricultural Census of 1995/96 (IBGE, 1998), these small properties make up 89% of the region s farms and cultivate 28% of the region s total agricultural area
The objective of this paper is to evaluate small family farm production efficiency in the Recôncavo region of the State of Bahia, Brazil, and to identify and measure the sources of that inefficiency using a non-parametric approach
Summary
The central focus of this work is the structure of small family farm agricultural production in the Recôncavo region of the state of Bahia, Brazil. According the Brazilian Agricultural Census of 1995/96 (IBGE, 1998), these small properties make up 89% of the region s farms and cultivate 28% of the region s total agricultural area. The region s main agricultural activities are the cultivation of annual and perennial crops, which together represent more than 80% of the region s principal agricultural products. Of these products, 90% of the peanut, tobacco in leaf, yam, orange, and lemon production, approximately 45% of the bean production, and 53% of the cassava production is brought to market, indicating the producers strong market orientation. Work on small family farms occupies 87% of the region s agriculture labor force, and 95% of the small family farm s labor force is made up of family members (responsible and non paid family members, as defined by IBGE, 1998)
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