Efficiency Performance Trends in the Food Processing Industry in Tanzania

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to examine the efficiency performance trends of food processing industries in Tanzania; in terms of technical efficiency using panel data of 40 food processing industries purposively selected industries throughout 2018 to 2020. Materials and Methods: A longitudinal or panel design, which involved pooling cross-sectional and time series data, was utilized in this investigation.  A stochastic frontier production model was applied using a linearized Translog production function to determine the performance elasticity coefficients of inputs and technical efficiency. The quantitative strategy was chosen by the researcher since it is both time and money efficient and requires less time for data collecting and processing. Results: The results from estimations reveal that the overall technical efficiencies for the selected food industry were 79.61%. However, the performance for food industries indicates ineffective performance with technical efficiency of 77.85%. This study concluded that an average of 22.15 percent technical potentiality were not achieved by the food in the period 2018 to 2020 respectively. Contribution to Policy Implication: This study recommends the government to further investigate factors that slow down the growth of food industries. Such factors may include regulatory obstacles (external factors) and management systems (internal factors). Also, the study suggests taking into account how well public and parastatal agriculture agencies are performing.