INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NOVEL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT International Peer Reviewed & Refereed Journals, Open Access Journal ISSN Approved Journal No: 2456-4184 | Impact factor: 8.76 | ESTD Year: 2016
Scholarly open access journals, Peer-reviewed, and Refereed Journals, Impact factor 8.76 (Calculate by google scholar and Semantic Scholar | AI-Powered Research Tool) , Multidisciplinary, Monthly, Indexing in all major database & Metadata, Citation Generator, Digital Object Identifier(DOI)
ABSTRACT
Sugarcane farming remains a key sub-sector in Kenya for achieving food and nutrition security as well as improving incomes both at household and national level. However, Kenya experiences a domestic production deficit of 64% of annual sugar consumption of 1.03 million metric tonnes. This trend continues despite Kenyan Government concerted effort to increase yields by expanding the area under sugarcane cultivation. Trans Mara Sub-County of Narok County was identified as one of the target areas for massive sugarcane planting to improve output, but the reality is that the total annual output is dwindling, as one cannot be fixated on expanding cultivable land while overlooking transformation of sugarcane productivity. The study aimed to assess technical (TE), allocative (AE), and economic (EE) efficiency in sugarcane production, and identify the socioeconomic factors that influencing these efficiencies in Trans Mara West, Narok County, Kenya. The study's hypothesis was that sugarcane farmers have homogeneous socioeconomic characteristics and are technically, allocatively, and economically efficient in input utilization; and that farmers' socioeconomic characteristics do not influence their level of production efficiency The study employed a multi-stage sampling technique that targeted 200 farmers randomly sampled out of 10,661; and the cross-sectional data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Using STATA, the Stochastic Frontier Production model and the Tobit regression were estimated to determine efficiency levels as well as analyze the effects of determinants on efficiency levels respectively. The estimated results revealed an average level of 90% (TE), 85% (AE), and 77% (EE). This showed that using current agricultural resources can improve the mean yield efficiency by 10%, 15%, and 23%, respectively. This further imply that farmers in the region are operating at greater levels of efficiency and that there is room for a further increase in output without raising the current level and costs of inputs. Overall, the TE, AE and EE levels observed in Trans Mara West were very higher than most sugarcane growing regions in Kenya, however, they were comparable to those found in African countries that are efficient in the sugarcane cultivation. The estimates of Cobb Douglass stochastic production frontier maximum likelihood indicated that fertilizer, seed-cane cuttings, herbicides, land size, and labour significantly determined the output of sugarcane yields. The results of stochastic cost frontier demonstrated that the cost of land, seed, fertilizer, and labor sufficiently impacted on the total cost of production. The study concluded that landownership, access to extension services, credit, and the Tropical livestock unit are significant predictors of technological efficiency. Experience, access to credit, and tropical livestock unit, on the other hand, are significant drivers of allocative efficiency. In terms of economic efficiency, the most important drivers were land ownership, access to credit, and tropical livestock unit. The study recommends policy changes that will increase farmers' contact and access to extension services by improving recruitment and incentives for extension workers to help sugarcane farmers reduce not just technical, but also allocative and economic inefficiencies. Establish a farmer-training program that promotes experience sharing, addresses optimal input usage, and enhances effective utilization including adoption of streamlined cane agronomic technologies to boost productivity. Additionally, promote accessibility of affordable credit to assist farmers in purchasing inputs throughout the planting season. Most significantly, introduce policy initiatives that redress inequities in land ownership should be promoted.
Keywords:
Sugarcane production efficiency in Transmara West, Narok County
Cite Article:
"DETERMINANTS OF SUGARCANE PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY IN NAROK COUNTY, KENYA.", International Journal of Novel Research and Development (www.ijnrd.org), ISSN:2456-4184, Vol.8, Issue 8, page no.b219-b235, August-2023, Available :http://www.ijnrd.org/papers/IJNRD2308126.pdf
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ISSN:
2456-4184 | IMPACT FACTOR: 8.76 Calculated By Google Scholar| ESTD YEAR: 2016
An International Scholarly Open Access Journal, Peer-Reviewed, Refereed Journal Impact Factor 8.76 Calculate by Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar | AI-Powered Research Tool, Multidisciplinary, Monthly, Multilanguage Journal Indexing in All Major Database & Metadata, Citation Generator
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