Responding to inefficiencies on smallholder maize farms: Can sustained adoption of sustainable agricultural practices make a difference?

This study aimed to bring forth empirical evidence of the effect of the sustained adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) on the technical and profit efficiency of farmers. Previous studies remain inconclusive about whether the adoption of SAPs has any bearing on the efficiency of maize farmers. The current study introduced the concept of sustained adoption and compared levels of efficiency between one-time SAP adopters and sustained adopters. Using a sample of 2 100 households, the study employed the Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier model to analyse both the technical and profit efficiency of maize farmers, and a two-stage tobit model was used to control for endogeneity. The study found that the one-time adoption of SAPs has no effect on the technical efficiency of maize farmers, whilst sustained adoption significantly improves the technical and profit efficiency of maize farmers. The study recommends a shift towards promoting the sustained adoption of SAPs for sustainable benefits for farmers.