Comparative Technical Efficiency of Maize Growers in the Northern Region of Cote D’ivoire: Stochastic Meta Frontier Analysis

This study investigates maize production efficiency in northern Côte d’Ivoire, a savannah region where maize farming is closely integrated with cotton-based production systems. The analysis is motivated by the national policy objective of achieving cereal self-sufficiency in a context of increasing agronomic and technological constraints. A key gap in the literature is that few studies account for technological heterogeneity between farmers using traditional maize varieties and those adopting improved hybrid seeds, while also clearly distinguishing technical inefficiency from technology-driven productivity differences. The empirical analysis is based on a cross-sectional sample of 313 maize-producing farms drawn from cooperative-based cotton and maize farmers. Data were collected through a survey conducted under the COMPACI (Competitive African Cotton Initiative) project in collaboration with Cotton Made in Africa (CmiA), which promotes the dissemination of improved agricultural technologies, particularly hybrid maize seeds. Methodologically, the study applies a Stochastic Meta-Frontier Analysis (SMFA) production function framework, which enables the estimation of group-specific production frontiers and a common meta-frontier, while decomposing productivity differentials into technical efficiency and technology gap components. The results reveal a substantial technology gap of approximately 63% in favor of improved maize systems, with hybrid seed adopters achieving significantly higher productivity levels. Market orientation and greater land allocation to cash and alternative food crops are found to reduce technical efficiency. Overall, the findings highlight the central role of technological upgrading in enhancing maize productivity and strengthening food security in the study area.