Impact of collective actions on technical efficiency of eru vegetable producers in Cameroon

Leaves of the eru tree (Gnetum africanum) are widely consumed as a vegetable in the humid tropics of West and Central Africa. Data were collected in 2015 from 131 eru farmers in the Obala and Evodoula districts in the Lekie division, Central Region, Cameroon to determine their crop production efficiency and to evaluate the impact of collective action on individual production decisions with the Tobit model. Age and education level of eru farmers, membership in a producer organization, number of years of membership in a producer organization, type of contractual engagement with producer organizations, access to extension services from producer organizations, and cultivated farm size were among the variables identified as determinants of collective action influencing farmers to produce eru. The average technical efficiency of eru farmers was 0.493, reflecting a low level of technical efficiency. The average technical efficiency under the variable returns to scale scenario was 0.899, indicating a comparatively higher technical efficiency. The Tobit model revealed that the key determinants of collective action positively affected the technical efficiency of eru production. Therefore, farmers' membership of farmers'associations and cooperatives contribute to vegetable production and should be given priority in future interventions.