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Abstract
This study examines productivity growth of 3 ECOWAS crops,
namely, rice, cotton and millet, using both Stochastic Frontier Analysis
(SFA) and Data Envelopment analysis (DEA). The data cover a 45
year period (1961-2005). Calculations are based on data collected
from FAOSTAT database, International Rice research Institute (IRRI)
world rice statistics, and international cotton advisory committee
database. The results for both SFA and DEA show that (1) there are
inefficiencies but productivity progress among ECOWAS member
nations producing rice, cotton and millet. (2) Though, magnitudes
of the inefficiencies and productivity progress vary across models
applied and by segmentation of the data set, there is little or no conflict
in the overall results. (3) Technical change has had the greatest impact
on productivity, indicating that producers have a tendency to catch-up
with the front runners.