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Abstract
The determinants of the technical efficiency (TE) of adopters and non-adopters of soil and
water conservation (SWC) technologies in the upper Rwizi micro-catchment of south-western
Uganda are compared using cross-sectional survey data from 246 smallholder farmers. A
Cobb-Douglas stochastic production frontier and a probit selection model fitted to generate
inverse Mills ratios for adopters and non-adopters are used in the analysis. On average, the
adopters of SWC technologies were found to own more land and livestock and to obtain more
output per unit of land than their non-adopter counterparts. In addition, adopters exhibit
higher average TE than non-adopters. Banana production technology in the upper Rwizi
micro-catchment exhibits decreasing returns to scale, and determinants of TE include
education, adoption of SWC and distance to markets. Smallholder farmers in the microcatchment
who adopt SWC technologies attain higher productivity.