INTRODUCTION Soya bean is an important legume crop in Zambia. It is a good source of plant protein and is used in preparation of foods and feed and a raw material in the processing of edible oils. Zambia has experienced tremendous growth in soya beans production in the last decade driven mainly by the livestock industry and human consumption including edible oils. Soya bean production is dominated by large commercial farmers who account for the larger share (>60%) of soya beans production. However, small scale farmers have increased their production of soya beans and as of 2017 their share was 45% of total production. The domestic soya bean requirement is estimated at 230,000 MT and in recent years Zambia has become self-sufficient in soya bean production. With the rising population and incomes among the Zambian households, demand for edible oils and livestock products and hence demand for soybeans is likely to remain high in the foreseeable future (Lubungu, et al., 2013) [1] and as such increased sustainable soybean production is essential for supporting the development of the oilseed processing subsector in the national economy. The Zambian government, NGOs and private seed companies have been promoting soya bean production among smallholder farmers as part of the strategy for diversification of agriculture, reducing dependency on maize mono-cropping and for improving income and food security among smallholders. The promoted technologies include: use of improved seeds, inoculum, planting time, and herbicide use and crop management. In response to these efforts among other factors, Zambia has witnessed increased production of soya bean increased from 55,000 metric tonnes (MT) in 2006 to 117,000 MT in 2010 and from 200,000 MT in 2012 to reach 351,000 MT in 2017. Associated with the increase in production has been the doubling in soya bean planted area in the period 2012-2017), from 99,000 ha in 2012 to around 200,000 ha in 2017. However, average soya bean yield decreased from 2.3MT/ ha in 2012 to 1.52MT/ ha in 2017 . This indicates that the reported tremendous growth in soya bean production in Zambia in the last decade is attributed mainly to area expansion rather than yield or productivity improvement which actually has decreased. It is also important to note that the average yield obtained by smaltholder farmers are lower than those of commercial farmers. For instance, the commercial farmers (IAPRI, 2017) [2]. In spite of the various interventions, annual average soya bean yields in the country are still below the various interventions, annual MT/ha, and thus, a need exists for finding ways to improve technical efficiency of MT/ha, and thus, a need exists for finding ways to improve technical efficiency of smallholder soya bean producers in Zambia. Various studies technical efficiency studies conducted in Africa on soybean farming included Etwire et al., (2013), Avea et al., (2016), Otitujo et al., (2014), Amaza et al., (2007) and Yegon et al., (2015) found that soybean production was affected by technical inefficiencies which was associated with demographic, socio-economic, institutional and technical factors. In Zambia, literature search found few studies on productive efficiency and that there was bias towards maize. These studies include: Chiona et al. (2014) on maize, Kabwe (2012) on cotton, and Musaba et al. (2014) on maize. In short a need existed to study the technical efficiency of soya bean farming in Zambia. This paper, reports the results of an investigation of technical efficiency that was conducted in 2018 among smallholder soya bean farmers in Mpongwe District on the Copperbelt province of Zambia. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area This study was conducted in Mpongwe district, Copperbelt province, Zambia. The district is located approximately 95 kilometers south west of Ndola town and 65 kilometers south east of Luanshya town. The district and the province are found in agroecological region III of Zambia, which is a high rainfall zone, with 10001500mm of annual rainfall. There is tropical climate with two distinct seasons; the rainy season (late October- April) and the dry season (May to September). The region has good potential for the production of maize, soybeans, sweet potatoes, cassava, sorghum, beans and groundnuts and vegetables. Sources and Type of Data Data were collected from primary sources and secondary sources. The primary data were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire designed to capture information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics of farmers (age, level of education, household size, experience), and farm characteristics (farm size area planted, crops grown, inputs, production cost, quantity of output), and participation in extension activities. The data were collected during the months of January and February of 2018. Sampling Technique and Sample Size Purposive and multistage sampling methods were used in selecting 120 farmers for the interview. First stage involved purposive selection of three blocks (Kashiba, Mpongwe east, Lukanga) from ten that make up the district. The second stage involved purposive selection of two agricultural camps in each block. In the third stage, 20 farmers were randomly selected from each camp with the help of extension workers and finally giving a total sample size of 120 soybean farmers. Data Analysis Descriptive statistics in terms of means, frequencies percentages and standard deviations were used to describe the socioeconomic and farm characteristics of soybean farmers in Mpongwe district. The estimation of technical efficiency of soybean farmers was achieved using the stochastic frontier approach. Table 1: Summary statistics of the variables used in the soybean stochastic frontier Tohlo? likalihnod. Attached are two pages extracted from a research article published in a peerreviewed journal of Agribusiness. Read and understand the contents of the three pages and then answer the following nine questions: 1. What is the research problem addressed and what would be the associated research objective? [10] 2. State the appropriate hypotheses in this study and comment on how these were tested? [10] 3. Not exceeding one-page give the salient characteristics of the sampled farmers in this study. [15] 4. Define technical efficiency and explain how it measured using the stochastic frontier approach. [10] 5. Specify the econometric model used in this study, clearly indicating all the variables and parameters, and any assumptions. [15] 6. Interpret the results of the estimated model coefficients and p-values and elaborate the implications of these findings. [20] 7. Give a half-page write-up of the major conclusions and recommendations (if any) you make from this study. [6] 8. Not exceeding 150 words, present an abstract for this study, capturing, objective, materials and methods, findings and policy implications. [12] 9. State the appropriate title you would give to this study. [2] INTRODUCTION Soya bean is an important legume crop in Zambia. It is a good source of plant protein and is used in preparation of foods and feed and a raw material in the processing of edible oils. Zambia has experienced tremendous growth in soya beans production in the last decade driven mainly by the livestock industry and human consumption including edible oils. Soya bean production is dominated by large commercial farmers who account for the larger share (>60%) of soya beans production. However, small scale farmers have increased their production of soya beans and as of 2017 their share was 45% of total production. The domestic soya bean requirement is estimated at 230,000 MT and in recent years Zambia has become self-sufficient in soya bean production. With the rising population and incomes among the Zambian households, demand for edible oils and livestock products and hence demand for soybeans is likely to remain high in the foreseeable future (Lubungu, et al., 2013) [1] and as such increased sustainable soybean production is essential for supporting the development of the oilseed processing subsector in the national economy. The Zambian government, NGOs and private seed companies have been promoting soya bean production among smallholder farmers as part of the strategy for diversification of agriculture, reducing dependency on maize mono-cropping and for improving income and food security among smallholders. The promoted technologies include: use of improved seeds, inoculum, planting time, and herbicide use and crop management. In response to these efforts among other factors, Zambia has witnessed increased production of soya bean increased from 55,000 metric tonnes (MT) in 2006 to 117,000 MT in 2010 and from 200,000 MT in 2012 to reach 351,000 MT in 2017. Associated with the increase in production has been the doubling in soya bean planted area in the period 2012-2017), from 99,000 ha in 2012 to around 200,000 ha in 2017. However, average soya bean yield decreased from 2.3MT/ ha in 2012 to 1.52MT/ ha in 2017 . This indicates that the reported tremendous growth in soya bean production in Zambia in the last decade is attributed mainly to area expansion rather than yield or productivity improvement which actually has decreased. It is also important to note that the average yield obtained by smaltholder farmers are lower than those of commercial farmers. For instance, the commercial farmers (IAPRI, 2017) [2]. In spite of the various interventions, annual average soya bean yields in the country are still below the various interventions, annual MT/ha, and thus, a need exists for finding ways to improve technical efficiency of MT/ha, and thus, a need exists for finding ways to improve technical efficiency of smallholder soya bean producers in Zambia. Various studies technical efficiency studies conducted in Africa on soybean farming included Etwire et al., (2013), Avea et al., (2016), Otitujo et al., (2014), Amaza et al., (2007) and Yegon et al., (2015) found that soybean production was affected by technical inefficiencies which was associated with demographic, socio-economic, institutional and technical factors. In Zambia, literature search found few studies on productive efficiency and that there was bias towards maize. These studies include: Chiona et al. (2014) on maize, Kabwe (2012) on cotton, and Musaba et al. (2014) on maize. In short a need existed to study the technical efficiency of soya bean farming in Zambia. This paper, reports the results of an investigation of technical efficiency that was conducted in 2018 among smallholder soya bean farmers in Mpongwe District on the Copperbelt province of Zambia. MATERIAL AND METHODS Study area This study was conducted in Mpongwe district, Copperbelt province, Zambia. The district is located approximately 95 kilometers south west of Ndola town and 65 kilometers south east of Luanshya town. The district and the province are found in agroecological region III of Zambia, which is a high rainfall zone, with 10001500mm of annual rainfall. There is tropical climate with two distinct seasons; the rainy season (late October- April) and the dry season (May to September). The region has good potential for the production of maize, soybeans, sweet potatoes, cassava, sorghum, beans and groundnuts and vegetables. Sources and Type of Data Data were collected from primary sources and secondary sources. The primary data were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire designed to capture information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics of farmers (age, level of education, household size, experience), and farm characteristics (farm size area planted, crops grown, inputs, production cost, quantity of output), and participation in extension activities. The data were collected during the months of January and February of 2018. Sampling Technique and Sample Size Purposive and multistage sampling methods were used in selecting 120 farmers for the interview. First stage involved purposive selection of three blocks (Kashiba, Mpongwe east, Lukanga) from ten that make up the district. The second stage involved purposive selection of two agricultural camps in each block. In the third stage, 20 farmers were randomly selected from each camp with the help of extension workers and finally giving a total sample size of 120 soybean farmers. Data Analysis Descriptive statistics in terms of means, frequencies percentages and standard deviations were used to describe the socioeconomic and farm characteristics of soybean farmers in Mpongwe district. The estimation of technical efficiency of soybean farmers was achieved using the stochastic frontier approach. Table 1: Summary statistics of the variables used in the soybean stochastic frontier Tohlo? likalihnod. Attached are two pages extracted from a research article published in a peerreviewed journal of Agribusiness. Read and understand the contents of the three pages and then answer the following nine questions: 1. What is the research problem addressed and what would be the associated research objective? [10] 2. State the appropriate hypotheses in this study and comment on how these were tested? [10] 3. Not exceeding one-page give the salient characteristics of the sampled farmers in this study. [15] 4. Define technical efficiency and explain how it measured using the stochastic frontier approach. [10] 5. Specify the econometric model used in this study, clearly indicating all the variables and parameters, and any assumptions. [15] 6. Interpret the results of the estimated model coefficients and p-values and elaborate the implications of these findings. [20] 7. Give a half-page write-up of the major conclusions and recommendations (if any) you make from this study. [6] 8. Not exceeding 150 words, present an abstract for this study, capturing, objective, materials and methods, findings and policy implications. [12] 9. State the appropriate title you would give to this study. [2]