Improved rice variety adoption and farm production efficiency: Accounting for unobservable selection bias and technology gaps among smallholder farmers in Ghana

Ghana's agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder farmers who often face substantial challenges such as limited access to improved production inputs and technology, financial capital and extension services. These challenges jointly contribute to low agricultural productivity and hinder Ghana's ability to meet the rising demand for food caused by increasing population, urbanization, and changing dietary habits of consumers. Adoption of agricultural technologies and innovations has often been recognized as important pathways for ensuring smallholder farming systems transformation and improved agricultural productivity, food security, rural economic growth, and reduced poverty and vulnerability among smallholder farmers. This study examines the productivity and efficiency effects of improved rice technology adoption among 412 smallholder rice farmers in Northern Ghana. Using sample selection stochastic production frontier model, selection bias stemming from observable and unobservable farmer characteristics was accounted for because farmers self-select into adopting improved rice technologies. The results indicate that adopters are 24% more technically efficient than non-adopters. In addition, adoption of improved rice varieties is associated with about 76% increase in rice farmers’ productivity, relative to non-adoption. Moreover, IRVs adoption is positively and significantly influenced by access to irrigation, access to credit, and farmer group membership. Farm size, fertilizer, chemicals, irrigation, and soil quality are the main positive determinants of rice productivity for both adopters and non-adopters.