Assessing efficiency differences in a common Agriculture Decision Support System - A comparative analysis between Greek and Italian durum wheat farms -

This study assesses inputs use efficiency of durum wheat farmers, subscribed under a common Agricultural Decision Support System (ADSS), especially designed by Barilla and HORTA for this cultivation. Data Envelopment Analysis was the main analysis used to highlight differences in the implementation stage of ADSS’s suggestions, between 4 agricultural firms (2 Italian and 2 Greek) (N= 563 farmers). By incorporating economic (variable costs) and environmental factors (Carbon, Water and Environmental footprints), performance differences between farms both on regional and national level arose. Lastly, closer monitoring for clarifying the reasoning of the obtained differences in the implementation stage is proposed

Measuring and Explaining Technical Efficiency of Dairy Farms: A Case Study of Smallholder Farms in East Africa

Replaced with revised version of paper 11/18/10.Dairy farms, efficiency scores, Data Envelopment Analysis, fractional regression, returns to scale, Livestock Production/Industries,

Assessing the technical efficiency of maize production in northern ghana: the data envelopment analysis approach

Maize is a major source of food and cash for smallholder farmers. However, average yield in Ghana is less than a third of the achievable yield and thus the need to close this gap by improving the technical efficiency of farming households through employing the right combination of productive resources to achieve food sustainability. This study used the input-oriented data envelopment analysis to examine the technical efficiency of maize production in northern Ghana1 using cross-sectional data for the 2011/2012 cropping season. The mean technical efficiency was 77%, giving credence to the existence of production inefficiency. Technically, efficient farmers used an average of 395.80 kg of chemical fertilizer, 27.04 kg of seed, 4.04 l of weedicides and hired labour of three persons to produce a yield of 2.34 tons/ha of maize. Largely, maize production exhibited increasing returns to scale. Agricultural mechanization and level of formal education did not have positive effects on technical efficiency, whereas agricultural extension had a positive effect on technical efficiency. Technical efficiency in maize production could be improved through informal and non-formal educational platforms where farmers without formal education learn improved cultivation practices. The agricultural extension department should be strengthened to provide effective extension services to farmers to improve on their technical efficiency. Animal and other non-mechanized power sources are complementary technologies and as such should be allowed to co-exist in Ghanaian agriculture

Comparing technical efficiency of organic and conventional coffee farms in Nepal using data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach used to estimate technical efficiency and followed by regressing the technical efficiency scores to farm specific characters under tobit regression model. Primary data was collected from random samples of 240 (120 from each) coffee famers. Mean technical efficiency score was 0.89 and 0.83 in organic and conventional coffee farming respectively. Farms operating under CRS, DRS and IRS were 31.67, 3.83 and 37.5% respectively in organic coffee and 29.17, 25 and 45.83% respectively in conventional farming areas. Tobit regression showed the variation in technical efficiency was related education, farm experience and training/extension services and excess to credit.Production frontier, Resource use, Technical efficiency, Organic, Altitude, Productivity Analysis,

Typology, technical efficiency and scale economy of dibiteries in Dakar, Senegal

In recent years, a profound transformation has been observed in the eating habits of the populations of African cities, induced by accelerated socioeconomic and demographic growth. In Senegal, these changes have manifested in the proliferation of collective informal catering enterprises, such as the '; dibiteries; ', where the roasted meat of sheep is prepared and sold. The rise of the average household income has contributed substantially to increasing levels of meat consumption, leading to the expansion of the; dibiteries; . The purpose of the current work was to evaluate the managerial performance of these establishments in Dakar, Senegal.; To achieve this, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 152 ; dibiteries; using a questionnaire. Efficiency scores were determined via the data envelopment analysis method. The pure technical scores thereby obtained were subsequently used as dependent variables in a Tobit model to identify the socioeconomic determinants of; dibiterie; efficiency.; The resulting average score of the; dibiteries; suggests that the majority are operating inefficiently (79.6%). Moreover, it was demonstrated that this inefficiency seems to be related to scale rather than technical issues. However, few of the; dibiteries; assessed (20.4%) were nevertheless in a situation of constant scale economy. Among the socioeconomic variables tested, experience, leadership (family or individual-run), the ownership status of the restaurant building (own or lease) and the type of workforce (family, recruited, mixed or without) had a significant impact on the efficiency of the establishments.; The scale economy and waste reduction in food production can result in economic gains that can in turn be used in the safety of finished products. Indeed, by following best practices,; dibiteries; can make gains which could be used to invest in good hygiene practices on handwashing, cleaning and disinfecting grilling tools, optimizing work space and training staff

EVALUATION OF IRANIAN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED INDUSTRIES USING THE DEA BASED ON ADDITIVE RATIO MODEL – A REVIEW

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a prominent procedure in the decision-making process with a pivotal role in the sustainable development assay. Project identification is the first step of sustainability assessment in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) program for the industrial projects prior to complete establishment. The present review research comprised 405 Iranian industries assessment regarding both input and output criteria via DEA integrated with the ratio model of Additive Ratio ASsessment (ARAS) and weighing systems of Kendall and Friedman's tests supported by SPSS software. The findings deployed a classification for Iranian industries pertaining to industries' nominal capacity in certain clusters. Also, the current review paved the pathway towards executing both energy and materials streams in industries

Technical efficiency of prawn poly-culture in Tam Giang lagoon, Vietnam

This paper measured the mean technical efficiency of 91 percent in prawn poly-culture (prawn (Peneaus monodon)-rabbitfish (Siganus oramin)-others pattern) farms in Tam Giang lagoon, Vietnam, using an input-oriented VRS data envelopment analysis. The estimated technical super-efficiency was then regressed to the farmer characteristics, extension contacts, stocking density, and production environment to identify the determinants of technical efficiency of those farms. Experience of the operators, their attendance to aquaculture training courses were the factors positively influencing farm level efficiency, while prawn stocking density had negative relationship with their technical efficiency. The later results also revealed the problem of congestion in prawn poly-culture production process. Moreover, the positive coefficient of production environment dummy variable indicated the difference between two types of ecosystem: planned farms and unplanned farms. In addition, in comparison between the technical efficiency results of those two groups, the unplanned farms were less efficient than planned ones. A suggestion of planning aquaculture area in Tam Giang – Cau Hai lagoon system and cooperating between unplanned farms and governmental offices, as a result, were made to improve technical efficiency. Moreover, training more extension workers and conducting more aquaculture training courses were also suggested in order to have the desired increase in productivity. Finally is a hint of further study about the congestion problems which have not been dealt in this study

The countryside in urbanized Flanders: towards a flexible definition for a dynamic policy

The countryside, the rural area, the open space, … many definitions are used for rural Flanders. Everyone makes its own interpretation of the countryside, considering it as a place for living, working or recreating. The countryside is more than just a geographical area: it is an aggregate of physical, social, economic and cultural functions, strongly interrelated with each other. According to international and European definitions of rural areas there would be almost no rural area in Flanders. These international definitions are all developed to be used for analysis and policy within their specific context. They are not really applicable to Flanders because of the historical specificity of its spatial structure. Flanders is characterized by a giant urbanization pressure on its countryside while internationally rural depopulation is a point of interest. To date, for every single rural policy initiative – like the implementation of the European Rural Development Policy – Flanders used a specifically adapted definition, based on existing data or previously made delineations. To overcome this oversupply of definitions and delineations, the Flemish government funded a research project to obtain a clear and flexible definition of the Flemish countryside and a dynamic method to support Flemish rural policy aims. First, an analysis of the currently used definitions of the countryside in Flanders was made. It is clear that, depending on the perspective or the policy context, another definition of the countryside comes into view. The comparative study showed that, according to the used criteria, the area percentage of Flanders that is rural, varies between 9 and 93 per cent. Second, dynamic sets of criteria were developed, facilitating a flexible definition of the countryside, according to the policy aims concerned. This research part was focused on 6 policy themes, like ‘construction, maintenance and management of local (transport) infrastructures’ and ‘provision of (minimum) services (education, culture, health care, …)’. For each theme a dynamic set of criteria or indicators was constructed. These indicators make it possible to show where a policy theme manifests itself and/or where policy interventions are possible or needed. In this way every set of criteria makes up a new definition of rural Flanders. This method is dynamic; new data or insights can easily be incorporated and new criteria sets can be developed if other policy aims come into view. The developed method can contribute to a more region-oriented and theme-specific rural policy and funding mechanism

Econometric analysis of the performance of cooperatives and investor owned firms in the European dairy industry

Keywords: Cooperatives, IOFs, European dairy industry, logistic regression, stochastic frontier analysis, inter- and intra-firm efficiency, catch-up component, data envelopment analysis, hyperbolic technical efficiency, overall efficiency, scale efficiency, bootstrapping. In this study we measure the performance of cooperatives and investor-owned firms in the European dairy processing industry. Comparing the performance between cooperatives and investor-owned firms requires accounting for differences in their mission and objectives. Traditionally, cooperatives were established by farmers to gain access to markets, balance market powers and have a secured and sustainable income. Generally, there is a consensus in the economic literature that a cooperative can be defined as a (members)user-owned and (members)user-controlled organization that aims to benefit its (members)user. Cooperatives are transaction oriented, the members provide themselves with services they could not secure otherwise. In addition member are owners and determine the mission and strategy of cooperatives equally as the owners of the cooperative enterprise. Our study takes into account the consequences of members’ strategies for the cooperatives’ organizational structure and subsequently the significance of structure on (technical and economical) efficiencies. Although the theoretical literature emphasizes the difference in economic behavior between cooperatives and IOFs, the empirical studies have failed to follow up with theoretical approaches. The failure of the empirical studies to apply the models proposed by the theoretical literature seems to be due to either the inaccessibility of data, the inability to take into account the interests of all the various types of members and stakeholders of the cooperative, or the difficulty in testing the various hypotheses in practice. An empirical analysis of differences in financial indicators between IOFs and cooperatives in six European countries shows that cooperatives are less profitable but operationally more efficient, they have higher material costs and lower debts than IOFs. Furthermore, cooperatives display a substantially greater variation in financial indicators than IOFs. Stochastic Frontier Analysis is used to measure and compare the efficiency and production technology of cooperatives and IOFs. Cooperatives are found to have a more productive technology than IOFs, but they use their production potential less efficiently. A further empirical analysis of technical efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis shows that explicit accounting for the objectives of cooperatives generates different outcomes compared with treating cooperatives as if they were IOFs. The results of the empirical analyses in this study promote the conclusion that measuring the performance of cooperatives as if they were IOFs produces misleading insights about the cooperatives’ performance suggesting performance suggesting that cooperatives’ performance is influenced by their organizational characteristics and members objectives. <br/