Adoption and Technical Efficiency of Organic and Fair-Trade Cashew Production in Benin (West Africa)

Résumé

Abstract As a result of many environmental and health problems related to the use of chemicals, but also due to their marginalization on the international market, some small producers in Africa; particularly in Benin (West Africa) have embarked on the fair-trade, organic production of cashew nuts to meet the ever-increasing global demand. This research identifies factors determining the adoption of fair-trade organic cashew and estimates producers’ technical level efficiency in central Benin. Two-stage random sampling was used to select 160 cashew producers. The study used the student’s “t” test, logistic regression and the method based on stochastic frontiers of type production Cobb-Douglas function to assess data collected from the research sample. Results revealed that sex, field size, cotton production and producer’s secondary activities have negative effects on organic cashew fair-trade adoption while the number of agricultural assets, experience in cashew production, land access and frequency of contacts with extension services positively affect organic cashew fair-trade adoption. The average efficiency indices of organic fair-trade producers is 0.63, suggesting that they are not technically efficient and there are possibilities for improving their production systems using their existing resources.

Citer ce document

Accès au document

Ce document est hébergé sur son dépôt institutionnel d'origine.

Auteur(s)

Statistiques

Consultations : 1

Téléchargements : 0