EFFICIENCY OF ZIMBABWEAN SMALL SCALE COMMUNAL FARMERS

Abstract

This paper investigates the allocative efficiency of two samples of communal area farmers in Manicaland province of Zimbabwe. The first one is made up of maize producers and the other of cotton producers. Maize is the staple food for most Zimbabweans and cotton has, as of late become the most popular cash crop for these small-scale communal (SSC) farmers. For each crop the Cobb-Douglas production function model is used to investigate the allocative efficiency of the maize and cotton producers. The tests for allocative efficiency are performed by estimating the equations for the Cobb-Douglas production function model. The findings of this paper show that the SSC farmers are utilising the fertilizer resource efficiently but they are under-utilising land, seed and insecticides. These producers are over-utilising labour and capital.