NERICA Adoption and Impacts on Technical Efficiency of Rice Producing Households in Ghana: Implications for Research and Development

Abstract

In an effort to enhance agricultural development in Ghana, rice producers have witnessed myriads of improved agricultural technology development and dissemination. Notably among them is the Multi-national NERICA Rice Dissemination Project (MNRDP). However the empirical evidence linking these technologies to productivity indicators is limited. This paper uses cross sectional data which were collected from 200 smallholder rice producers from major rice growing districts in Ghana, to examine whether adoption of NERICA rice varieties have impacted on technical efficiency. Taking into account the endogeneity of technology adoption and assuming that impact is heterogeneous across the population, The propensity score matching approach was used to estimate average treatment effect (ATE) on technical efficiency. The analyses revealed an adoption rate of 68 per cent among sample rice farmers. The data further suggest an average technical efficiency of 69.1 per cent. In addition, adoption of NERICA rice varieties was found to have a positive and significant impact on technical efficiency of rice producing households in the country. Besides NERICA adoption, other factors that significantly influenced technical efficiency include; education, household size, gender and non-farm income. The result also highlighted a positive influence of institutions such as NGOs and extension services on technical efficiency. The findings suggest that access to improved varieties is an essential factor to consider in promoting interventions aimed at improving technical efficiency of smallholder rice producers. Further, continuous provision of training through establishing and strengthening linkages between farmers and these institutions is recommended to enhance the smooth transformation of adoption efforts into efficient rice production among smallholder rice farmers in Ghana.