Analysis of socio-economic factors affecting technical efficiency of small-holder coffee farming in the Krong Ana Watershed, Dak Lak Province, Vietnam

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2011-08
Authors
Ho, Thong Quoc
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[Honolulu] : [University of Hawaii at Manoa], [August 2011]
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Abstract
Coffee is a major crop in Vietnamese agriculture and plays an important role in the country‟s economy, especially in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Coffee production is a major source of income for farmers in the Dak Lak province. Although Vietnam is well-known as one of the largest coffee producers in the world, there is minimal research and information identifying the technical efficiency and socio-economic factors contributing to production efficiency of coffee. The overall objective of this study was to estimate the technical efficiency of coffee production and evaluate factors affecting the level of technical inefficiency of small holder coffee farmers in the Krong Ana Watershed of Dak Lak province. The specific objectives were to (i) identify the factors affecting coffee production, (ii) estimate the technical efficiency of coffee farming and (iii) identify factors contributing to technical inefficiency by analyzing the relationship between estimated efficiency levels and farm specific socio-economic factors. The study was conducted in four districts of the Dak Lak province. Since pooling data was not possible in all districts based on the results of the Chow Test, separate analyses were conducted for Cu Kuin and three combined districts (Krong Ana, Krong Bong and Lak). Maximum likelihood estimates for all the parameters of the stochastic frontier and inefficiency model were simultaneously generated. The variance parameters were estimated in terms of parameterization. By employing the stochastic frontier approach, the results reveal that selected variables significantly affect coffee output (i.e., cost of organic fertilizers, pesticide expenditure, amount of irrigation water and coffee trees for the Cu Kuin district model; labor, inorganic and organic fertilizer expenditure and age of coffee trees for the three combined districts model). The estimated mean technical efficiency scores were 0.7466 and 0.6836 respectively for the Cu Kuin district and the three combined districts. Formal education of the household head, amount of credit, ethnicity, and coffee farming experience were key factors which can reduce technical inefficiency of coffee production for the combined districts sub-region. For the Cu Kuin district, extension services can be used as a conduit to reduce technical inefficiency of coffee production, while ethnicity has the opposite effect as compared to a priori expectations. This latter result requires further research and analysis. Improvement of technical efficiency by 10% could generate a substantial amount of additional income for coffee farmers. The overall findings suggest that water conservation practices, and the proper choice of fertilizers and pesticides could lead to improvements in coffee yields. Expanding coverage of formal education and making credit more available can help farmers enhance technical efficiency of coffee production in the combined districts. Improvements in both quantity and quality of extension services may increase technical efficiency of coffee production for farmers in the Cu Kuin district. More in-depth investigation into population policies is necessary to identify the effects of family labor, number of children and family size on improving technical efficiency of coffee production for both sub-regions.
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M.S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2011.
Includes bibliographical references.
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coffee
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Theses for the degree of Master of Science (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Natural Resources and Environmental Management.
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