Technical efficiency and its determinants in smallholder tea production: Evidence from Nyamira and Bomet Counties in Kenya

dc.contributor.authorAteka, Josiah M.
dc.contributor.authorOnono, Perez A.
dc.contributor.authorEtyang, Martin
dc.date.accessioned2019-05-13T13:02:34Z
dc.date.available2019-05-13T13:02:34Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.descriptionResearch Articleen_US
dc.description.abstractThe smallholder tea sub-sector in Kenya has enjoyed relative growth in acreage, output, and number of growers since its inception in the early 1960s, but productivity has remained low. There are huge differentials between actual and potential yields suggesting underlying production inefficiencies. This study estimated the level of technical efficiency and analyzed its determinants among tea farmers from two selected counties in Kenya. Using data from a sample of 525 farm households, the non-parametric data envelopment analysis was applied to estimate technical efficiency scores. The scores were then regressed on a set of explanatory variables to establish their influence on efficiency. The average efficiency score of 0.46 indicates that overall productivity in Kenya’s smallholder tea sub-sector is low but has a potential to increase if most of the farmers can adopt practices of the frontier farms. The intensity of family labor use, farm size, age of the tea farm, education level of the household head, access to extension services through the farmer field schools, and the sale of green leaf through alternative marketing channels have a significant influence on levels of efficiency.en_US
dc.identifier.citationGlobal Journal of Science Frontier Research: Agriculture and Veterinary Volume 18 Issue 3en_US
dc.identifier.issn2249-4626
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/19461
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherGlobal Journalsen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesGlobal Journals of Science Frontier Research (D);
dc.subjectSmallholderen_US
dc.subjectTea productionen_US
dc.subjectTechnical efficiencyen_US
dc.subjectDeterminantsen_US
dc.subjectFractional regressionen_US
dc.titleTechnical efficiency and its determinants in smallholder tea production: Evidence from Nyamira and Bomet Counties in Kenyaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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