Factors Affecting Technical Efficiency of Small-holder Coffee Farming in the Krong Ana Watershed, Vietnam

Coffee production is a major source of income for farmers in the DakLak province in Vietnam. Although Vietnam is one of the largest coffee producers in the world, research to improve the coffee industry is lacking, in particular, evaluating production efficiency in coffee farming could highlight factors that improve technical efficiency. The overall objective of this study is to estimate the technical efficiency of coffee production and determine which factors affect technical efficiency of small holder coffee farmers in the Krong Ana Watershed of the DakLak province. Based on the stochastic production frontier, the estimated mean technical efficiency scores were 0.7466 and 0.6836 respectively for the Cu Kuin district and the three combined districts (Krong Ana, Krong Bong and Lak). Formal education of the household head, amount of financial credit obtained, ethnicity, coffee farming experience of the household head, and agricultural extension service used were key factors that can increase technical efficiency in coffee production.