Articles
Poverty alleviation through improvement in technical efficiency in the smallholder rubber sector: case study from Kegalle District of Sri Lanka
Authors:
P. G. N. Ishani ,
Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka, Dartonfield, Agalawatta, LK
Wasana Wijesuriya,
Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka, Dartonfield, Agalawatta, LK
J. K. S. Sankalpa
Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka, Dartonfield, Agalawatta, LK
Abstract
Growth and development of the agriculture sector play an important role in the alleviation of poverty. There is a long-lasting debate on whether improvement in efficiency levels leads to eradicate poverty. Further, some studies unveiled that farm and farmer characteristics have a significant influence on poverty. Hence, this study attempts to examine the relationship between technical efficiency and poverty and the effect of farmer’s characteristics on poverty levels among the smallholder rubber farmers in Kegalle District.
Data were collected from 195 smallholder rubber farms in Kegalle district through a questionnaire survey. Cobb-Douglas Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) was employed to determine the Technical Efficiency (TE) of the farmers and Poverty Gap Index (PGI) was calculated to measure the depth of poverty in the sample. Correlation analyses were conducted to analyze the relationship between poverty and technical efficiency. Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was employed to determine the farm and farmer characteristics affecting poverty.
The estimated mean technical efficiency of smallholder rubber farmers in Kegalle district was 63%, implying that the natural rubber production could be increased further by 37% through better use of existing resources and technology. Correlation analysis indicated that TE has a significant negative correlation (r=-0.147, P=0.04) with poverty, indicating that improving TE will help to alleviate poverty.
Results of GLM model indicated that years of education of the farmer and the farm size have a strong negative influence on poverty while family size and age of the farmer have a positive association with poverty. Hence, policymakers should give more consideration to these factors in poverty alleviation programmes.
How to Cite:
Ishani, P.G.N., Wijesuriya, W. and Sankalpa, J.K.S., 2019. Poverty alleviation through improvement in technical efficiency in the smallholder rubber sector: case study from Kegalle District of Sri Lanka. Journal of the Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka, 99, pp.47–56. DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/jrrisl.v99i0.1887
Published on
30 Dec 2019.
Peer Reviewed
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