The Efficiency of Traditional and Hybrid Maize Production in Eastern Ethiopia: An Extended Efficiency Decomposition Approach

The productive efficiencies of traditional and hybrid maize producers in eastern Ethiopia are derived using an efficiency decomposition technique that we extend to account for scale effects. The paper illustrates the sensitivity of the conventional approach to scale effects. The results revealed high inefficiency among both traditional and hybrid maize producers. High inefficiency among hybrid maize producers is consistent with the argument that food production gains from improved agricultural technologies have not been realised in poor countries like Ethiopia due mainly to poor support services, including extension, education, credit and input supply. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.