Efficiency analysis of rice producers: evidence from southern Ghana

In this study, we explored the factors that influence rice farmers' production efficiency in Ghana. This study investigates the rice farmers' technical efficiency (TE) using survey data collected from the eastern region. The study also revealed that most farmers' production efficiency was below the production frontier, i.e., inefficient. Precisely, among the farms' production, only 13 (6.19%) were efficient under variable returns to scale (VRS), 3 (1.43%), and 4 (1.90%) were efficient under constant returns to scale (CRS) and scale efficiency, respectively. The results obtained show that the mean difference among some household and farm characteristics, including irrigation, access to extension services, credit and vehicle ownership variables, was significant, but the education level variable was insignificant. The Tobit model revealed that the rice producer's efficiency was mostly influenced by education, irrigation, access to extension, credit, and vehicle ownership. Our findings provide policy implications to enhance rice productivity.