Technology Gap and Efficiency in Cocoa Production in West and Central Africa: Implications for Cocoa Sector Development.

Abstract

Abstract Guy Blaise Nkamleu, Joachim Nyemeck and Jim Gockowski This paper applies the recently developed metafrontier function technique to investigate productivity potentials and efficiencies in cocoa production in West and Central Africa. The methodology enables the estimation of national technology gap ratios (TGRs) by using a decomposition result involving both the national production frontiers and the (regional) metaproduction frontier. Empirical results are derived using a comprehensive dataset collected during one of the larger surveys of cocoa farmers in four West and Central Africa countries, namely Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire. The data and analysis support the view that technical efficiency in cocoa production is globally low, and technology gap plays an important part in explaining the ability of cocoa sector in one country to compete with cocoa sectors in other countries in the West and Central Africa region. The paper ends by highlighting relevant strategies for sustainable cocoa development in Africa.

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