Do data envelopment and stochastic frontier analyses produce similar efficiency estimates? The case of Ghanaian maize production

This study applied stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to
examine the technical efficiency of maize production in northern Ghana using cross-sectional data from 360 maize farmers for the 2011/2012 cropping season.

Can agro-processing lead re-industrialisation in Sub-Saharan Africa? A two-stage approach to productivity analysis

This analysis sits against the backdrop of unsuccessful attempts to reindustrialise Africa. Zambia must diversify from copper dependency to agriculture and the agro-processing sectors, and the question is whether there is enough capacity to deliver jobs or growth.

Gaps in the implementation of the e-voucher system in Zambia: Implications for strategies to make the model efficient and effective

The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) has reformed the implementation of the Farmer
Input Support Programme (FISP). The objective of FISP is to increase competitiveness in the
agricultural sector among all key players (input suppliers, agro-dealers, banks, etc.), while improving
farmers’ welfare.

The impacts of community-based cash management tools on smallholder rural farmers’ access to livelihood assets

Smallholder rural farmers are exposed to diverse idiosyncratic and covariate shocks that lead to high income and consumption volatility. Formal cash management tools, which are important for managing risk and volatility, often break down due to high information asymmetries and the transaction costs of operating in rural areas.

Does linking farmers to markets work? Evidence from the World Food Programme’s Purchase for Progress satellite collectionpoints initiative in Uganda

Using a non-experimental cross-sectional dataset of 471 households, we evaluate the impacts of satellite collection points (SCPs) under the Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP) on storage decisions and crop income from maize sales among smallholder farmers in Uganda.