Sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas L.), particularly the orange fleshed variety, have become increasingly popular due to their ability to thrive in various environmental conditions with minimal inputs. Orange fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSPs) show potential for productivity, yet smallholder farmers in Kenya still struggle to maximize their yields. The factors influencing OFSP production efficiency among these farmers in Western Kenya have not been thoroughly examined. This study evaluated the technical efficiency of OFSP production among smallholder farmers in Migori County. Using a descriptive research design, a sample of 225 OFSP farmers was randomly selected by a cluster sampling technique. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire on inputs and selected socio-economic factors. The data was analyzed using the frontier stochastic model in STATA. Smallholder farmers estimated mean technical efficiency was 77.82% significant variables were; size of the land, availability of planting vines, access to hired labour, gender of the household decision maker, farming experience, household size, land ownership status, participation in training programs and extension services, and proximity to markets, indicating a need to improve OFSP production by 22.18%. These findings suggest that to reduce inefficiencies among smallholder OFSP farmers, targeted training programs are needed to enhance farmers' agronomic knowledge specific to OFSP production. Further, policy interventions should prioritize the provision of extension services to support and improve the performance of OFSP smallholder farmers.
| Published in | Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Volume 13, Issue 5) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.aff.20241305.18 |
| Page(s) | 190-201 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Technical Efficiency, Stochastic Frontier Model, Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato, Productivity, Smallholder Farmer
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APA Style
Jabuya, L. O., Munyiri, S. W., Njogu, M. K. (2024). Analysis of Technical Efficiency on Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes Production Among the Smallholder Farmers in Migori County Kenya. Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 13(5), 190-201. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20241305.18
ACS Style
Jabuya, L. O.; Munyiri, S. W.; Njogu, M. K. Analysis of Technical Efficiency on Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes Production Among the Smallholder Farmers in Migori County Kenya. Agric. For. Fish. 2024, 13(5), 190-201. doi: 10.11648/j.aff.20241305.18
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Download@article{10.11648/j.aff.20241305.18,
author = {Lawrence Otieno Jabuya and Shelmith Wanja Munyiri and Martin Kagiki Njogu},
title = {Analysis of Technical Efficiency on Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes Production Among the Smallholder Farmers in Migori County Kenya
},
journal = {Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries},
volume = {13},
number = {5},
pages = {190-201},
doi = {10.11648/j.aff.20241305.18},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20241305.18},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.aff.20241305.18},
abstract = {Sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas L.), particularly the orange fleshed variety, have become increasingly popular due to their ability to thrive in various environmental conditions with minimal inputs. Orange fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSPs) show potential for productivity, yet smallholder farmers in Kenya still struggle to maximize their yields. The factors influencing OFSP production efficiency among these farmers in Western Kenya have not been thoroughly examined. This study evaluated the technical efficiency of OFSP production among smallholder farmers in Migori County. Using a descriptive research design, a sample of 225 OFSP farmers was randomly selected by a cluster sampling technique. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire on inputs and selected socio-economic factors. The data was analyzed using the frontier stochastic model in STATA. Smallholder farmers estimated mean technical efficiency was 77.82% significant variables were; size of the land, availability of planting vines, access to hired labour, gender of the household decision maker, farming experience, household size, land ownership status, participation in training programs and extension services, and proximity to markets, indicating a need to improve OFSP production by 22.18%. These findings suggest that to reduce inefficiencies among smallholder OFSP farmers, targeted training programs are needed to enhance farmers' agronomic knowledge specific to OFSP production. Further, policy interventions should prioritize the provision of extension services to support and improve the performance of OFSP smallholder farmers.
},
year = {2024}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Analysis of Technical Efficiency on Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes Production Among the Smallholder Farmers in Migori County Kenya AU - Lawrence Otieno Jabuya AU - Shelmith Wanja Munyiri AU - Martin Kagiki Njogu Y1 - 2024/10/18 PY - 2024 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20241305.18 DO - 10.11648/j.aff.20241305.18 T2 - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries JF - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries JO - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries SP - 190 EP - 201 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-5648 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.aff.20241305.18 AB - Sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas L.), particularly the orange fleshed variety, have become increasingly popular due to their ability to thrive in various environmental conditions with minimal inputs. Orange fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSPs) show potential for productivity, yet smallholder farmers in Kenya still struggle to maximize their yields. The factors influencing OFSP production efficiency among these farmers in Western Kenya have not been thoroughly examined. This study evaluated the technical efficiency of OFSP production among smallholder farmers in Migori County. Using a descriptive research design, a sample of 225 OFSP farmers was randomly selected by a cluster sampling technique. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire on inputs and selected socio-economic factors. The data was analyzed using the frontier stochastic model in STATA. Smallholder farmers estimated mean technical efficiency was 77.82% significant variables were; size of the land, availability of planting vines, access to hired labour, gender of the household decision maker, farming experience, household size, land ownership status, participation in training programs and extension services, and proximity to markets, indicating a need to improve OFSP production by 22.18%. These findings suggest that to reduce inefficiencies among smallholder OFSP farmers, targeted training programs are needed to enhance farmers' agronomic knowledge specific to OFSP production. Further, policy interventions should prioritize the provision of extension services to support and improve the performance of OFSP smallholder farmers. VL - 13 IS - 5 ER -
Department of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Extension & Agribusiness Management, Chuka University, Chuka, Kenya
Department of Plant Science, Chuka University, Chuka, Kenya
Department of Plant Science, Chuka University, Chuka, Kenya
