Soil Conservation and Small-Scale Food Production in Highland Ethiopia A Stochastic Metafrontier Approach

Abstract

This study adopts the stochastic metafrontier approach to investigate the role of soil conservation in small-scale highland agriculture in Ethiopia. Plot-level stochastic frontiers and metafrontier technology-gap ratios were estimated for three soil-conservation technology groups and a group of plots without soil conservation. Plots with soil conservation were found to be more technically efficient than plots without. The metafrontier estimates showed that soil conservation enhances the technological position of naturally disadvantaged plots.