Integrated production functions for main crop fields in Pontieba, south-western Burkina Faso: Empirical estimations for efficiency assessment and further integrated modelling

Abstract

Understanding efficiencies of the uses of major inputs for smallholder cropping systems such as labour and fertilizer under heterogeneous site conditions are important for sustainable intensification management and policy. The present study aims at estimating crop production in response to farming inputs and natural conditions of the cropping locations, and assess resource use efficiency based on the estimated production functions. The study was conducted in the village of Pontieba which presents all major agricultural livelihood typologies in the Ioba province of South-Western Burkina Faso. The Cob-Douglas production function was modified to couple variables reflecting soil-water condition of the cropping locations (GIS data) with data on crop management acquired through interviewing households, and then used for estimating elasticity coefficients of factors affecting yields. Besides main usual crop management-related drivers of crop yield (plot area (-), family labour (+) and mineral nutrient (+)) the results of the estimations showed that livestock endowment (+) and upslope contributing area of the cropping location (-) were the main drivers influencing crop yield response in smallholder farming systems of Pontieba. The estimated crop production functions showed that the labour and nutrient use efficiency are very low over fields of all crop types, implying that efforts to increase crop yield by intensifying inputs would not increase but may even decrease farmers' agricultural profits and net incomes. This suggests that solutions for solving the problem are converging to measures improving fertilizer use efficiency and return to labour before making more investment on increasing inputs. We also suggest directions and measures for increasing fertilizer and labour use efficiency in specific to major crop types.