Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
残疾农民的生产差距与有限技术相关
Production Gaps Among Farmers With Disabilities Are Associated With Limited Technology
摘要
In sub‐Saharan Africa, agriculture is vital; however, the systematic exclusion of persons with disabilities from farming hinders sustainable development and social equity. Although several studies have analyzed productivity differentials across various dimensions of social exclusion, empirical evidence on technology access, farming efficiency, and productivity gaps among farmers with disabilities remains limited. This study addresses this gap by evaluating disparities in crop production between farmers with and without disabilities in Ghana, with a particular focus on differences in technology endowment and production efficiency. Utilizing the meta‐stochastic frontier analysis coupled with statistical matching techniques on nationally representative farm‐level data from the 2012/13 and 2016/17 agricultural seasons, we find negligible differences in technical efficiency between the two groups (less than 0.5%). However, the productive capacity of the technology sets employed by farmers with disabilities is approximately 11%‐point lower than that of their counterparts without disability, resulting in a 9.5%‐point shortfall in crop production. This production shortfall is primarily driven by reduced per‐hectare use of critical inputs such as planting materials, labor, fertilizer, and agro‐chemicals. These findings highlight a significant disability‐associated technology access gap that reflects broader structural inequalities. Addressing these disparities is essential for promoting equitable agricultural development while harnessing the full potential of all farmers in Ghana.
中文摘要
在撒哈拉以南非洲，农业至关重要；然而，残疾人被系统性地排斥在农业生产之外，阻碍了可持续发展与社会公平。尽管已有研究分析了社会排斥不同维度下的生产率差异，但关于残疾农民在技术获取、耕作效率及生产率差距方面的实证证据仍然有限。本研究通过评估加纳残疾与非残疾农民在作物生产中的差异，特别是技术禀赋与生产效率的差异，填补了这一空白。基于2012/13和2016/17农业季全国代表性农户层面数据，采用元随机前沿分析结合统计匹配技术，我们发现两组农民的技术效率差异微乎其微（低于0.5%）。然而，残疾农民所采用技术集的生产能力比非残疾农民低约11个百分点，导致作物产量减少9.5个百分点。这一产量缺口主要源于种植材料、劳动力、化肥及农用化学品等关键投入要素的每公顷使用量减少。这些发现揭示了与残疾相关的显著技术获取差距，反映了更广泛的结构性不平等。解决这些差距对于促进公平的农业发展、同时充分发挥加纳所有农民的潜力至关重要。