Determinants of efficiency of hill paddy farms among indigenous smallholders in Sarawak, Malaysia—a data envelopment analysis approach

The indigenous people in the state of Sarawak widely cultivate hill paddy in Malaysia. The study examines the levels of technical and scale efficiency, productivity, and the determinants of technical efficiency among indigenous smallholder farms in the Belaga district. A cross-sectional survey was conducted, and data were collected from 148 farmers using the non-probability convenience sampling method. The results revealed that the mean overall technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency, and scale efficiency were 0.856, 0.901, and 0.950, respectively. In terms of productivity, only 45 of the decision-making units were found to operate at an optimal production level. Farmers’ education, experience, age, and household size were found to have a negative relationship with technical efficiency, while association membership and distance to farm exhibited a positive relationship. The study supports interventions that target region-specific constraints to enhance efficiency, productivity, and improve food security among rural indigenous communities in Sarawak.

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