This thesis examined the effects of late delivery of subsidized fertilizer on smallholder farmer’s
technical efficiency and maize production in Zambia using nationally representative crosssectional
household survey data for the 2010/11 agricultural season. A maize yield response
model at field level was estimated using a Stochastic Frontier Approach for cross-sectional data.
Results indicate that late delivery of fertilizer reduces technical efficiency and maize yield by
4.2%. The estimated results are then extrapolated to quantify the loss in national maize output.
The foregone maize output due to late delivery of fertilizer in the 2010/11 farming season was
84,924 metric tons. When valued at the government’s maize purchase price, the forgone income
is equivalent to USD 21.2 million. Furthermore, by limiting the sample to only households that
obtained fertilizer from the Farmer Input Support Program (FISP), a probit model was used to
determine whether household and individual attributes affect timely receipt to fertilizer. It was
found that households with large landholding size and high value of productive assets were more
likely to receive fertilizer on time, ceteris paribus.