Crop Diversification and Its Efficiency
in Rashda Village, Dakhla Oasis
Erina Iwasaki and Kenichi Kashiwagi
Abstract In an arid climate region, where available water is limited, one of the
important strategies to optimize the production is to diversify their crop cultivation.
This chapter analyses farmers’ diversification strategies focusing on crop production
in Rashda village in Dakhla Oasis. Technical and scale efficiency of farms in Rashda
of Egypt is investigated by using DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) approach. Using
cross section data of agricultural households collected from the household survey in
Rashda in 2009, technical and scale efficiency were estimated in the first stage. As
a second stage, the OLS model was estimated to find factors associate with higher
efficiency. Results suggest the estimated efficiency scores of agricultural households
in Rashda are generally low, where the majority of farms show less than 40% of
technical efficiency. Yet, estimated results also suggest the level of output can be
increased by 82.5%, 79.8% under the CRS, VRS specifications, respectively, with
the current level of inputs. About 24.6% of farms can increase their production and
productivity through increasing their inputs, while 24.1% can improve their productivity by reducing their inputs. While the crop diversification does not contribute to
improve efficiency, the expansion of cultivation of water-saving crops such as dates
is a positive factor for improving efficiency. Human capital accumulation, increase
experience and intensification of family labor use would contribute to improve technical efficiency. These results imply that the simple diversification of crop production
does not result in improved efficiency. The farmers who intensify in date fruits which
is a high value crop, have highest score of efficiency. In contrast, the farmers who
cultivate wheat, fodder crops along with rice demonstrate low efficiency, which is
from household consumption side point of view a rational choice in order to secure
the household’s basic food need.
E. Iwasaki (B)
Faculty of Foreign Studies, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan
e-mail: iwasaki@sophia.ac.jp
K. Kashiwagi
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
e-mail: kashiwagi.kenichi.fn@u.tsukuba.ac.jp
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
E. Iwasaki et al. (eds.), Sustainable Water Solutions in the Western Desert,
Egypt: Dakhla Oasis, Earth and Environmental Sciences Library,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64005-7_10
161
in Rashda Village, Dakhla Oasis
Erina Iwasaki and Kenichi Kashiwagi
Abstract In an arid climate region, where available water is limited, one of the
important strategies to optimize the production is to diversify their crop cultivation.
This chapter analyses farmers’ diversification strategies focusing on crop production
in Rashda village in Dakhla Oasis. Technical and scale efficiency of farms in Rashda
of Egypt is investigated by using DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) approach. Using
cross section data of agricultural households collected from the household survey in
Rashda in 2009, technical and scale efficiency were estimated in the first stage. As
a second stage, the OLS model was estimated to find factors associate with higher
efficiency. Results suggest the estimated efficiency scores of agricultural households
in Rashda are generally low, where the majority of farms show less than 40% of
technical efficiency. Yet, estimated results also suggest the level of output can be
increased by 82.5%, 79.8% under the CRS, VRS specifications, respectively, with
the current level of inputs. About 24.6% of farms can increase their production and
productivity through increasing their inputs, while 24.1% can improve their productivity by reducing their inputs. While the crop diversification does not contribute to
improve efficiency, the expansion of cultivation of water-saving crops such as dates
is a positive factor for improving efficiency. Human capital accumulation, increase
experience and intensification of family labor use would contribute to improve technical efficiency. These results imply that the simple diversification of crop production
does not result in improved efficiency. The farmers who intensify in date fruits which
is a high value crop, have highest score of efficiency. In contrast, the farmers who
cultivate wheat, fodder crops along with rice demonstrate low efficiency, which is
from household consumption side point of view a rational choice in order to secure
the household’s basic food need.
E. Iwasaki (B)
Faculty of Foreign Studies, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan
e-mail: iwasaki@sophia.ac.jp
K. Kashiwagi
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
e-mail: kashiwagi.kenichi.fn@u.tsukuba.ac.jp
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
E. Iwasaki et al. (eds.), Sustainable Water Solutions in the Western Desert,
Egypt: Dakhla Oasis, Earth and Environmental Sciences Library,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64005-7_10
161