Resource use efficiency on own and sharecropped plots in northern Ethiopia: determinants and implications for sustainability

This study analyses the level of resource use efficiency achieved by tenant households on their own and on sharecropped-in plots, and the determinants of the levels of efficiency achieved. Using plot-level and location data from Tigray, northern Ethiopia, it assesses whether tenancy status affects technical efficiency. Stochastic frontier production function analysis results show that a statistically significant level of technical inefficiency exists in the production system, but this was not found significantly associated with the tenancy status of the plot, controlling for other factors. Technical efficiency was found to have significantly positive association with livestock endowments of the tenant household and the population density of the location. As this study is based on cross-sectional data, a comprehensive study - based on a dynamic setting - is critical to assessing the cumulative effect of land contracting on long-term productivity and sustainability of land use.