Analysis of pond aquaculture in the Northern Malawi: Application of stochastic frontier analysis

In this study, we applied a stochastic frontier model to assess technical efficiency scores and determinants of inefficiency for 96 fish farms in Northern Malawi. A Cobb–Douglas production was employed. The results reveal that fish farmers in the region exhibited a high degree of technical inefficiency, with mean efficiency scores of 29%, indicating a very significant scope for improvement and large differences between farmers. The empirical findings highlight fingerlings and feed as the most impactful inputs influencing production.