Effect of Farm Size on Technical Efficiency of Tef Production: A Case Study of the Moretna-Jirru District, Central Ethiopia

Abstract

III Ethiopia, where small farming households are predominamly
subsistence producers, efficiency plays a signijicam role in
boosting food productioll. Especially, as laruJ resources are
becoming limited (scarce) with population expansion, increased
food production is coming mainly from more effective use of
existing resources and technological innovation . Although the
Ethiopian govemmem, since 1980, focused Oil ach ieving food selfsufficiency,
the problem of food insecurity still persists in the
country.
The objecti ves of this paper are to reflect on th e technical
efficiency of small farmer househo lds, the det enninants of technical
efficiency, and the relationship between farm size and household
food production in the clmral highlands of Ethiop ia. The study
employed the stochastic fromier production function approach and
applied it 10 a total of 199 sampled farm households to examine
efficiency of tef. 111e results revea led that large faf11lS are
techn ically more efficiem th(1I1 small farms. The mean technical