Kitole, Felician ATibamanya, Felister YSesabo, Jennifer K2024-05-032024-05-032024APAwww.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-agriculture-and-food-researchhttps://scholar.mzumbe.ac.tz/handle/123456789/723A research article submitted to the Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, Vol.15 of 2024.Cereal production is important component of Tanzania's agricultural sector, as it provides food security and income for a significant portion of the population. However, low levels of technical efficiency and the negative impact of ill-health on cereal productivity have posed significant obstacles to the welfare of small-scale farmers in the country. This study estimates the technical efficiency of cereal producers in Tanzania, investigates the relationship between farmer health and cereal productivity, and establishes a link between technical efficiency and the welfare of smallholder farmers. Using data from the Tanzania Agriculture Sample Census survey 2019/20, the stochastic frontier production function was used to estimate technical efficiencies, while Tobit and instrumental variables models analyzed the impact of health on cereal production efficiency and the effects of efficiency on the welfare of cereal's small-scale farmers respectively. The findings indicate that the overall technical efficiency of cereal producers in Tanzania is 44.44%, with pure technical efficiency standing at 56.50%. In addition, poor health reduces the likelihood of cereal productivity efficiency by 0.297 (p < 0.01). In addition, efficiency was found to significantly improve household welfare, as it increases food security (0.35327, p < 0.01), household income (0.2914, p < 0.01), and nutrition status by reducing malnutrition (−0.36607, p < 0.01). The study recommends that rural agriculture development programs include health components to increase productivity, sustainability, and ultimately the standard of living of rural communities.enHealth statusCereals small-scale farmersTechnical efficiencyStochastic frontier analysisTanzaniaArticle