Technical efficiency: A study of smallholder rice farmer in Kilombero district, Tanzania

Abstract. Smallholder farmers form the vast majority of rice producers in Tanzania. Nonetheless, smallholder production is known to exhibit inefficiency in production. This study sought to analyze the determinants of technical efficiency of production of smallholder rice farmers in Tanzania using the stochastic frontier method while ensuring theoretical consistency through monotonicity and quasi concavity checks. Results show that empowerment of the woman, gender, primary occupation, group membership of household head and fertilizer use by the household affect technical efficiency of production. Keywords. Technical efficiency (TE), TE scores, Monotonicity, Determinants, Tanzania. JEL. D61, G14, H21.