Table 1 Description of variables
From: Does contract farming affect technical efficiency? Evidence from soybean farmers in Northern Ghana
Variable | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
Dependent variable in Probit (selection) Equation | Â | Â |
Contract farming participation | Dummy | 1 indicates a soybean farmer with a contract; 0 otherwise |
Explanatory variables for matching and contract farming participation | Â | Â |
Gender | Dummy | 1 indicates a male farmer; 0 otherwise |
Basic education | Dummy | 1 indicates a farmer having basic education; 0 otherwise |
Secondary education | Dummy | 1 indicates a farmer having secondary education; 0 otherwise |
Tertiary education | Dummy | 1 indicates a farmer having tertiary education; 0 otherwise |
Household size | People | number of people in the household |
Soy farming experience | Years | number of years in soybean production |
Land size | Hectares | the total size of land under food crop production |
Household assets | Index | household asset abundance scale |
Farmer specialization | Ratio | the proportion of soybean income to total farm income |
Off-farm activities | Dummy | 1 indicates a farmer who has an off-farm job; 0 otherwise |
Labor | Person days | number of the workforce employed in soybean production |
Extension contacts | Visits | number of extension visits to the farmer’s soybean farm |
Credit access | Dummy | 1 indicates a farmer credit beneficiary; 0 otherwise |
FBO membership | Dummy | 1 indicates a member of an FBO; 0 otherwise |
Distance to district market | Kilometers | number of kilometers from house to district market |
Occurrence of drought | Dummy | 1 if household encountered drought |
Risk aversion | Dummy | 1 indicates a farmer with low farm investment; 0 otherwise |
Region | Dummy | 1 indicates a farmer in Upper East Region; 0 otherwise |
Dependent variable in the production function | Â | Â |
ln_Yield | Kg/ha | log of normalized output per unit area |
Input variables (and other explanatory variables) in the production functions | Â | Â |
ln_Labor | Person days | log of normalized labor used for soy production |
ln_Fertilizer | Kg | log of normalized fertilizer used for soy production |
ln_Seed | Kg | log of normalized seed used for soy production |
ln_Pesticides | Liters | log of normalized pesticides used for soy production |
Power tillage | Dummy | 1 indicates a farmer who uses mechanized services during land preparation; 0 otherwise |
Districts | Categorical | District indicates the specific location of a farmer (1 = Bawku West, 0 = otherwise; 1 = Binduri, 0 = otherwise; 1 = Nanumba South, 0 = otherwise; 1 = Karaga, 0 = otherwise) |