ABSTRACT Productivity can fluctuate due to variations in production technology, in the efficiency of the production process, and in the environment in which production takes place. One of the primary causes of low agricultural productivity around the world, including Ethiopia, is farmers' failure to fully exploit current technologies, resulting in reduced output efficiencies. Moreover, if farmers are not making efficient use of the existing technology then efforts designed to improve efficiency would be more cost effective than introducing new technologies as a means of increasing agricultural output. This study examined empirically the technical efficiency of pepper producer in the district of Mitto. The study used household level cross sectional data collected in 2022/2023 from 336 sample farmers selected by multistage sampling technique. For the data collection questionnaire was used. The objective of this study was to examine the pepper yield gap under farmer management, to determine the level of responsiveness of output to the factors of production, to determine the level of efficiency and to identify the factors that cause variation in the level of efficiency in pepper production. In the analyses, descriptive statistics, a stochastic frontier model was employed. The descriptive statistics revealed that the average yield of pepper per hectare was 6.5 quintal which is lower than the productivity potential of 22 quintal. A SFM that pepper yield estimated using CDP function was positively and significantly influenced by seed, labor, oxen, farm size and fertilizer. The result of frontier model revealed that the mean TE of sample households during the survey period was 70%, and it was positively and significantly affected by age, off- farm income education and extension contact. Therefore the study suggested the need for policies to discourage land fragmentation, and promote education for improvement in efficiency.