DOES IMPROVING TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY INCREASE FOOD PRODUCTION? AN ANALYSIS OF WHEAT FARMS IN AFGHANISTAN

Abstract

Afghanistan faces serious challenges in terms of food security, which highlights the importance of agricultural productivity growth. This study assessed the impact of technical efficiency (TE) of wheat production on farmers’ household food security by improving food production using ex-post non-experimental data from Takhar Province, Afghanistan. Our empirical approach is based on the Cobb–Douglas stochastic frontier model and the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). We found that farmers’ TE significantly improved farmers’ households’ food security by improving food production. Furthermore, the average TE score of food-secure farmers was 72.0%, whereas that of food-insecure farmers was 66.2%, and the difference was statistically significant. In conclusion, our findings underscore the essential role of improving farmers’ TE in enhancing food security in farming households in Afghanistan.