Resource use efficiency in tilapia production in Central and Southern Malawi

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• Production economics
• technical efficiency
• tilapia production
• farm management
• Malawi

Additional information

Funding

Special thanks to Africa Center of Excellence in Aquaculture and Fisheries (AquaFish ACE) of the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) for funding this research study under its postgraduate scholarship with financial support from the World Bank. The authors are also grateful to WorldFish Center, the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) for additional financial support under the Fish Trade Project “Improving Food Security and Reducing Poverty through Intra-regional Fish Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa”, following the Malabo Declaration. The funding was made possible through the assistance from the European Union.