Open AccessTechnical efficiency and marketing channels among small-scale farmers: evidence for raspberry production in Chile
Author(s) -
Roberto JaraRojas,
Boris E. BravoUreta,
Daniel Solís,
Daniela Martínez Arriagada
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the international food and agribusiness management review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.474
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1559-2448
pISSN - 1096-7508
DOI - 10.22434/ifamr2016.0168
Subject(s) - production (economics) , productivity , scale (ratio) , revenue , production–possibility frontier , business , marketing , quality (philosophy) , agriculture , agricultural economics , agribusiness , empirical evidence , economics , agricultural science , economic growth , microeconomics , ecology , philosophy , physics , environmental science , accounting , epistemology , quantum mechanics , biology
This study analyses technical efficiency (TE) levels among small-scale raspberry producers in Central Chile. Special attention is given in to investigate the impact of the marketing channel used by the farmers on their technical performance. The data used in this study were obtained from a farm-level survey of 139 small-scale raspberry farmers. A stochastic production frontier model was used to evaluate the association between TE, extension, training and farmers’ decisions to sell their production directly to the agro-industry or indirectly through an informal middleman. The empirical results show that the decision to sell raspberries using informal channels is negatively associated with farm productivity and revenues. The analysis also reveals a positive relationship between TE and income among experienced and trained farmers. Implementing food quality and safety standards was also found decisive in increasing farm income. Policy implications stemming from these results are also discussed.