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Abstract
The present study investigates the development (i.e., rise or decline) in African agricultural
efficiency level and what drives the efficiency over the years. A total of 379 frontier studies
resulting in 534 farm level efficiency estimates were considered using meta-regression
analysis (MRA) for the empirical analysis. The results show that mean efficiency estimates
from the selected case studies decrease significantly as year of survey in the primary study
increases. Apparently, this implies that over the years, negative efficiency change
characterized the growth of African agriculture and food production. The effect of other study
attributes considered in the MRA show that studies published in Journals, with parametric
and primal technology specification produced significantly higher efficiency estimates, while
those published in top ranking journals and with Cobb-Douglass and Translog functional
forms produced significantly lower efficiency estimates. Other results show that education,
followed by experience; extension and credit are the major drivers of agricultural efficiency
levels in Africa over the years. Given these findings; we suggest policies that encourage
investment in human capital development associated with education and extension should be
prioritized to enhance the growth of agriculture and food production in the region.