Abstract:
Gender mainstreaming has, for some time now, been identified as a paramount issue in development of
resource-poor societies, and particularly, the women whose access to productive resources is limited
due to tradition, culture and other socio-economic constraints. This research paper investigates the
influence of Gender in management on the level of efficiency of food crop farms in Ghana. The study
specifically: compares the technical efficiency scores of farms with male entrepreneurs and those with
female entrepreneurs; examines the determinants of technical efficiency of food crop farmers; and
compares technological gaps of farms with male entrepreneurs and those with female entrepreneur.
The study involved 90 male food crop farmers and 90 female food crop farmers in the Juaboso District
in the Western Region of Ghana. The respondents interviewed were selected using stratified random
sampling technique. Stochastic metafrontier production function was used to estimate the efficiency
scores in each group and multiple regression models was estimated to verify the determinants of
technical efficiency. Survey was conducted with structured interview schedules to collect data. The
estimated technical efficiencies indicate that food crop farmers in the Juaboso District of Ghana are, in
general, less efficient in their production. Although farms under male farmers management had higher
mean value of production figures relative to the female farmers’ farms, the farms under female farmers
management were found to be more efficient and also nearer to the potential output defined by the
metafrontier production function compared to the farms owned by males. We also found technical
efficiency to be influenced significantly by gender, age, household size, years of farming experience,
access to credit, education and consultation with extension staff
