Technical Efficiency Evaluation of Maize Production in Ghana: An Application of Three-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: In Ghana, maize constitutes the primary source of revenue and food for small-scale farmers, and to attain maize self-sufficiency, appropriate production techniques must be employed, coupled with the scaling up of production efficiency to supplement our food output. The objectives of the study are to estimate the technical efficiency and analyze the trend in total factor productivity of maize production.   Method: This study focuses on forty-eight (48) cities in six (6) selected regions of Ghana: Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Central, Eastern, and Volta. Secondary data on maize production was obtained from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture from the 2010/11 to 2020/21 cropping seasons. Environmental variables (amount of rainfall and temperature) were sourced from the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA) from 2010/11 to 2020/21.   Results and Conclusion: The results displayed a fairly high level of TE, and environmental factors significantly influence production efficiency. The study revealed that the TE of maize cultivation was 0.752 and 0.853 for the first and third stages, respectively. From the findings, the efficiency scores attained after the adjustments to the input in the third stage of the DEA model were greater than those in the first stage. Also, the results indicated the eastern region had the highest TE scores, showed an increment in productivity, and serves as the finest region for maize cultivation. Overall, the technical performance of maize cultivation had shown an upward trend in productivity, and the eastern region recorded the highest efficiency performance and technological progress.   Implications of the Research: The research highlights the significance of the maize crop to the Ghanaian economy and how environmental factors impact farmers' production efficiency. It also emphasizes the benefits of resource use efficiency and its implied effects on the total factor productivity of maize cultivation. Policy suggestions include sustainable production practices primarily for farmers living in susceptible areas to enhance productivity and improve their food security status.   Originality/Value: The gap discovered in the examined literature was that there exists a substantial deficiency in the usage of the three-stage DEA Malmquist model for analyzing technical efficiency and limited studies on the estimation of the total factor productivity (TFP) changes, specifically focusing on maize farming. This paper adds to the body of the existing literature by utilizing a three-stage DEA model to evaluate the TE of maize production. This is entirely limited both in theory for annual crops and methodologically in the Ghanaian literature on efficiency studies.