Total factor productivity and technical efficiency among smallholder groundnut farmers in Northern Mozambique

Jeremy L Jelliffe, Boris E Bravo-Ureta, Amade Muitia, Venâncio Salegua, Emily Urban & James Rhoads

Abstract
This study examines the productivity of smallholder groundnut farmers in North-eastern Mozambique using data for 2016 from two provinces with high total production of said crop. The model used is a Cobb-Douglas True Fixed Effects stochastic production frontier, controlling for geographical heterogeneity, and standard errors clustered at the village level. Our analysis reveals a mean total factor productivity index and technical efficiency score of 0.34 and 0.68 respectively. Seeding rates are found to have major potential for increasing output. This work provides new information to support ongoing efforts to generate greater resilience and robustness in domestic food systems.