Integrating quantified risk in efficiency analysis: evidence from rice production in East and Southern Africa

摘要

Rice production is constrained by inefficient use of inputs, limited adoption of technologies and a risky environment that includes biotic and abiotic constraints. The current analysis separates the risk effect from other measurement errors and non-systematic influences by adjusting the production to the proportion of the quantified crop losses resulting from these constraints. The technical efficiency estimates associated with observed and adjusted production levels are obtained using data from the Rice Statistics survey of 2009 in Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Uganda. Risk aggravates farmers' inefficiency; continuous efforts are needed to mitigate risks in order to increase production.