Appiah-Twumasi Mark, Donkoh Samuel Arkoh, Ansah Isaac Gershon Kodwo
Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
Department of Economics, School of Applied Economics & Management Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
Heliyon. 2022 Dec 5;8(12):e12087. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12087. eCollection 2022 Dec.
This study used PSM and the selectivity-corrected framework for stochastic frontiers to examine how innovative agricultural finance practices of maize farmers in northern Ghana affect economic efficiency. We find, consistently, that users of innovative financing have higher technical (TE), allocative (AE), and economic efficiency (EE) scores than nonusers. The efficiency gaps between users and nonusers are 4% for TE; 5% for AE; and 10% for EE. Contrary to expectation, farmers' access to mechanized services diminished their TE. Our findings indicate that short-term policies to increasing maize output should focus on reducing inefficiency levels than introducing new technologies. This can be achieved by providing technical training to farmers through improved access to agricultural extension services, provisioning farmers with timely access to tractors and equipment, and facilitating access to profitable output markets. The positive efficiency effects of using innovative financing suggests that policies should favour creating further sources of informal financial options for poor rural farmers. Here, Village Savings and Loans Associations can mitigate credit supply risks by linking farmers directly to inputs and reducing the need for cash loans. Local governments must harness Ghana Government's Planting for Export and Rural Development programme to create sustainable employment opportunities that enable farmers to raise farm investment capital in the off-season.
本研究使用倾向得分匹配法（PSM）和随机前沿的选择性校正框架，来考察加纳北部玉米种植农户的创新农业融资实践如何影响经济效率。我们一致发现，创新融资的使用者在技术效率（TE）、配置效率（AE）和经济效率（EE）得分方面高于非使用者。使用者与非使用者之间的效率差距在技术效率方面为4%；配置效率方面为5%；经济效率方面为10%。与预期相反，农户获得机械化服务降低了他们的技术效率。我们的研究结果表明，增加玉米产量的短期政策应侧重于降低无效率水平，而非引入新技术。这可以通过改善农业推广服务的获取渠道为农户提供技术培训、及时为农户提供拖拉机和设备以及促进进入盈利性产出市场来实现。使用创新融资的积极效率影响表明，政策应倾向于为贫困农村农户创造更多非正式金融选择来源。在此，乡村储蓄和贷款协会可以通过将农户直接与投入品联系起来并减少现金贷款需求来降低信贷供应风险。地方政府必须利用加纳政府的“出口种植与农村发展”计划，创造可持续就业机会，使农户能够在淡季筹集农业投资资本。
