IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i2p1645-d1035892.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decomposition of Green Agriculture Productivity for Policy in Africa: An Application of Global Malmquist–Luenberger Index

Author

Listed:
  • Lindikaya W. Myeki

    (Department of Agricultural Economics, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa
    National Agricultural Marketing Council, MERC Division, 536 Francis Baard St., Arcadia, Pretoria 0002, South Africa)

  • Nicolette Matthews

    (Department of Agricultural Economics, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa)

  • Yonas T. Bahta

    (Department of Agricultural Economics, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa)

Abstract

Previous research on agricultural productivity in Africa has focused on conventional Total Factor productivity (TFP) growth rather than Green Total factor productivity (GATFP) growth, thus ignoring the effect of undesirable outputs such as emissions. This has raised concerns about the sustainability of agricultural productivity growth in the continent. The study was designed to examine GATFP growth in agricultural productivity for 49 African nations from 2000 to 2019. We apply the Global Malmquist–Luenberger (GML) Productivity Index, which complies with the sustainable development agenda that promotes greater production of desirable outputs and minimising unwanted outputs. This approach is also compared to Global Malmquist (GM) Productivity Index which ignores unwanted outputs, yielding to conventional TFP growth. We found an average GATFP growth of 0.6% and TFP growth at 0.9% suggesting that the actual agricultural productivity growth is overstated if agricultural emissions are disregarded. Both estimates fell short of the desired annual target of 7% from the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Regional growth is mostly characterised by high (low) GATFP and TFP except in Southern Africa and East Africa. The two regions represent an ideal situation where GATFP exceeds TFP. At country level growth can be divided into three scenarios: desired growth, where GATFP exceeds TFP; balanced growth with both estimates equivalent; and undesired growth, where TFP exceeds GATFP. Unfortunately, most African nations fall in the last scenario. We conclude that policies must be developed to encourage sustainable agricultural productivity growth in Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Lindikaya W. Myeki & Nicolette Matthews & Yonas T. Bahta, 2023. "Decomposition of Green Agriculture Productivity for Policy in Africa: An Application of Global Malmquist–Luenberger Index," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1645-:d:1035892
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/1645/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/2/1645/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adom, Philip Kofi & Adams, Samuel, 2020. "Decomposition of technical efficiency in agricultural production in Africa into transient and persistent technical efficiency under heterogeneous technologies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Emrouznejad, Ali & Yang, Guo-liang, 2016. "A framework for measuring global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index with CO2 emissions on Chinese manufacturing industries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P1), pages 840-856.
    3. Joseph C. Paradi & H. David Sherman & Fai Keung Tam, 2018. "Data Envelopment Analysis in the Financial Services Industry," International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, Springer, number 978-3-319-69725-3, July-Dece.
    4. Yoruk, BarIs K. & Zaim, Osman, 2005. "Productivity growth in OECD countries: A comparison with Malmquist indices," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 401-420, June.
    5. Feng, Guohua & Serletis, Apostolos, 2014. "Undesirable outputs and a primal Divisia productivity index based on the directional output distance function," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 183(1), pages 135-146.
    6. Pastor, Jesus T. & Lovell, C.A. Knox, 2005. "A global Malmquist productivity index," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 266-271, August.
    7. Tongwane, Mphethe Isaac & Moeletsi, Mokhele Edmond, 2018. "A review of greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector in Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 124-134.
    8. Caves, Douglas W & Christensen, Laurits R & Diewert, W Erwin, 1982. "The Economic Theory of Index Numbers and the Measurement of Input, Output, and Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(6), pages 1393-1414, November.
    9. Dong-hyun Oh, 2010. "A global Malmquist-Luenberger productivity index," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 183-197, December.
    10. Jason Hickel & Giorgos Kallis, 2020. "Is Green Growth Possible?," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 469-486, June.
    11. Tim J. Coelli & D. S. Prasada Rao, 2005. "Total factor productivity growth in agriculture: a Malmquist index analysis of 93 countries, 1980–2000," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 32(s1), pages 115-134, January.
    12. Zhang, Dongyang, 2021. "Marketization, environmental regulation, and eco-friendly productivity: A Malmquist–Luenberger index for pollution emissions of large Chinese firms," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    13. Chaofan Chen & Qingxin Lan & Ming Gao & Yawen Sun, 2018. "Green Total Factor Productivity Growth and Its Determinants in China’s Industrial Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-25, April.
    14. Chen, Yao, 2003. "A non-radial Malmquist productivity index with an illustrative application to Chinese major industries," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 27-35, January.
    15. Jean‐Philippe Boussemart & Walter Briec & Kristiaan Kerstens & Jean‐Christophe Poutineau, 2003. "Luenberger and Malmquist Productivity Indices: Theoretical Comparisons and Empirical Illustration," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 391-405, October.
    16. Benin, Samuel, 2020. "The CAADP 2020 biennial review: Why many countries are off-track," ReSAKSS issue notes 32, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Falavigna, Greta & Manello, Alessandro & Pavone, Sara, 2013. "Environmental efficiency, productivity and public funds: The case of the Italian agricultural industry," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 73-80.
    18. Guy Nkamleu, 2004. "Productivity Growth, Technical Progress and Efficiency Change in African Agriculture," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 16(1), pages 203-222.
    19. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    20. Luis Orea, 2002. "Parametric Decomposition of a Generalized Malmquist Productivity Index," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 5-22, July.
    21. E. Grifell-Tatjé & C. Lovell & J. Pastor, 1998. "A Quasi-Malmquist Productivity Index," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 7-20, July.
    22. Apergis, Nicholas & Gangopadhyay, Partha, 2020. "The asymmetric relationships between pollution, energy use and oil prices in Vietnam: Some behavioural implications for energy policy-making," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    23. Ruomei Xu & Yanrui Wu & Chen Chen, 2022. "Agricultural green efficiency and productivity incorporating waste recycling," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 635-660, September.
    24. Fan, Meiting & Shao, Shuai & Yang, Lili, 2015. "Combining global Malmquist–Luenberger index and generalized method of moments to investigate industrial total factor CO2 emission performance: A case of Shanghai (China)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 189-201.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yafei Wang & Zihan Zhao & Ming Xu & Zhixiong Tan & Jingwei Han & Lichen Zhang & Siying Chen, 2023. "Agriculture–Tourism Integration’s Impact on Agricultural Green Productivity in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, October.
    2. Yuan, Xiao & Zhang, Jinlong & Shi, Jing & Wang, Jiachen, 2024. "What can green finance do for high-quality agricultural development? Fresh insights from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Zhen Wang & Xiaoyu Zhang & Hui Lu & Xiaolan Kang & Bin Liu, 2023. "The Effect of Industrial Agglomeration on Agricultural Green Production Efficiency: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-23, August.
    4. Long Qian & Yunjie Zhou & Ying Sun, 2023. "Regional Differences, Distribution Dynamics, and Convergence of the Green Total Factor Productivity of China’s Cities under the Dual Carbon Targets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-26, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Xiang & Chen, Yong & Huang, Wenli & Zhang, Xuping, 2023. "A new Malmquist-type green total factor productivity measure: An application to China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    2. Emrouznejad, Ali & Yang, Guo-liang, 2016. "CO2 emissions reduction of Chinese light manufacturing industries: A novel RAM-based global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 397-410.
    3. Reza Fallahnejad & Mohammad Reza Mozaffari & Peter Fernandes Wanke & Yong Tan, 2024. "Nash Bargaining Game Enhanced Global Malmquist Productivity Index for Cross-Productivity Index," Games, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, January.
    4. Deshan Li & Rongwei Wu, 2018. "A Dynamic Analysis of Green Productivity Growth for Cities in Xinjiang," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-13, February.
    5. Mohsen Afsharian & Heinz Ahn, 2015. "The overall Malmquist index: a new approach for measuring productivity changes over time," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 226(1), pages 1-27, March.
    6. Barnabé Walheer, 2022. "Global Malmquist and cost Malmquist indexes for group comparison," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 75-93, August.
    7. Aparicio, Juan & Pastor, Jesus T. & Zofio, Jose L., 2013. "On the inconsistency of the Malmquist–Luenberger index," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 229(3), pages 738-742.
    8. Wang, Ke & Wei, Yi-Ming & Huang, Zhimin, 2018. "Environmental efficiency and abatement efficiency measurements of China's thermal power industry: A data envelopment analysis based materials balance approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 269(1), pages 35-50.
    9. Sun, Huaping & Kporsu, Anthony Kwaku & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Edziah, Bless Kofi, 2020. "Estimating environmental efficiency and convergence: 1980 to 2016," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    10. Qin, Quande & Li, Xin & Li, Li & Zhen, Wei & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2017. "Air emissions perspective on energy efficiency: An empirical analysis of China’s coastal areas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 604-614.
    11. Barnabé Walheer, 2018. "Cost Malmquist productivity index: an output-specific approach for group comparison," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 79-94, February.
    12. Houyem Zrelli & Abdullah H. Alsharif & Iskander Tlili, 2020. "Malmquist Indexes of Productivity Change in Tunisian Manufacturing Industries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, February.
    13. Pastor, Jesus T. & Lovell, C.A. Knox & Aparicio, Juan, 2020. "Defining a new graph inefficiency measure for the proportional directional distance function and introducing a new Malmquist productivity index," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 281(1), pages 222-230.
    14. Walter Briec & Laurence Lasselle, 2022. "On some relations between a continuous time Luenberger productivity indicator and the Solow model," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(2), pages 484-502, April.
    15. Halkos, George E. & Aslanidis, Panagiotis – Stavros C., 2023. "Sustainable energy development in an era of geopolitical multi-crisis. Applying productivity indices within institutional framework," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    16. Haiyan Deng & Ge Bai & Kristiaan Kerstens & Zhiyang Shen, 2023. "Comparing green productivity under convex and nonconvex technologies: Which is a robust approach consistent with energy structure?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(8), pages 4377-4394, December.
    17. Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, Jon Mikel & Aparicio, Juan & Ortiz, Lidia & Carayannis, Elias G. & Grigoroudis, Evangelos, 2021. "The productivity of national innovation systems in Europe: Catching up or falling behind?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    18. Ruomeng Zhou & Yunsheng Zhang, 2023. "Measurement of Urban Green Total Factor Productivity and Analysis of Its Temporal and Spatial Evolution in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-32, June.
    19. Xi Qin & Xiaoling Wang & Yusen Xu & Yawen Wei, 2019. "Exploring Driving Forces of Green Growth: Empirical Analysis on China’s Iron and Steel Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-11, February.
    20. Kao, Chiang, 2010. "Malmquist productivity index based on common-weights DEA: The case of Taiwan forests after reorganization," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 484-491, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:2:p:1645-:d:1035892. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.