Resource use efficiency in tilapia production in Central and Southern Malawi

The aquaculture sector in Malawi has not shown significant growth in terms of production and productivity. This study applied the translog stochastic frontier to determine the technical efficiency in tilapia production in Malawi. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 211 tilapia farms fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aquaculture economics & management 2020-07, Vol.24 (3), p.213-231
Main Authors: Mussa, H., Kaunda, E., Jere, W. W. L., Ng'ong'ola, D. H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access
Aquaculture
Efficiency
farm management
Farms
Fertilizers
Financing
Fingerlings
Fish
Fish farms
Freshwater fishes
Labour
Malawi
Production economics
technical efficiency
Tilapia
Tilapia culture
tilapia production
Training
Widening
Women
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Summary:The aquaculture sector in Malawi has not shown significant growth in terms of production and productivity. This study applied the translog stochastic frontier to determine the technical efficiency in tilapia production in Malawi. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 211 tilapia farms for the study. The determinants of tilapia output in Malawi are seed, fertilizer input and farm size. The mean technical efficiency estimate was 66% indicating that the tilapia producers have a yield gap of 34%. Sex of producer, age, household size, access to extension, training and access to credit are major factors influencing the efficiency level of tilapia producers. On average, tilapia production is carried out under the decreasing returns to scale. Tilapia producers grossly under-utilized feed, fingerlings, fertilizer, and farm size and over-utilized Labor. Government and other stakeholders should ensure widening access to extension, training fish farmers, empowering women tilapia producers, widening access to credit and financing sources to enhance tilapia production in Malawi.
ISSN:1365-7305
1551-8663
DOI:10.1080/13657305.2019.1674426