T Legese*, T Abdella, M Kecha and N Ahmed
Maize is among the top five cereal crops in Ethiopia and increasing its efficiency of inputs in its production could be considered as an important base in bringing food security. Therefore, this study aimed at analyzing the economic efficiency of maize production in the West Hararghe Zone using cross-sectional data collected from 157 randomly selected sample households during 2018/19 production season. Cobb-Douglas production function, and Tobit model were used to achieve the specific objective of the study. The estimated mean Return to Scale (RTS) was 0.93%, which shows the decreasing returns to scale. The analysis of resource productivity revealed statistically significant positive elasticity of land, seed, urea fertilizer, and oxen power. The estimated results showed that the mean technical, allocative, and economic efficiencies were 92.37, 55.08, and 50.28% respectively. Results of the Tobit model revealed that TLU, land allocated for maize, frequency of extension contact, and frequency of training were found to have positive effects on EE and AE. The sex of the household was found to have a negative effect on both EE and AE efficiency of farmers in the study area. Land allocated for maize, off/non-farm income, and experience on maize production have a positive effect on TE of households. Distance farm to the home was found to have a negative and significant effect on TE. The government should facilitate farmer training center in which the experienced farmers are trained and let to diffuse their accumulated practices to the youngsters with less experience.
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