Analysis of Technical, Allocative and Economic Efficiencies of Vitamin A Cassava Farmers with other Improved Cassava Farmers in Benue State, Nigeria

Purpose: Despite that cassava is important economically and nutritionally, a gap exists between its demand and supply. Consequently, analysis of technical, allocative and economic efficiencies of Vitamin A Cassava (VAC) farmers with other improved cassava (OIC) farmers in Benue State, Nigeria was conducted. Methodology: A five- stage sampling technique was employed to select 120 farmers in the study area. Primary data were obtained using structured questionnaire and interview methods to seek information on socio-economic characteristics of farmers, inputs, outputs, and constraints to cassava production. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, stochastic frontier production function and cost function. Findings: The result revealed that profitability alone is not the only determinant for cassava cultivation, other factors were adequate finance, farmland, planting material, labour, nutrition and market. Five major determinants of cassava production were farm size, family labour, stem, herbicide and hired labour. Education, farming experience, gender and extension contacts significantly influenced farm -specific profit inefficiencies. OIC farmers showed higher allocative efficiency (0.78) than VAC farmers (0.75) and lower economic mean efficiency (0.66) than VAC farmers (0.76). The VAC farms were more profitable than OIC farms with gross margin of ₦181,120 and ₦105,620 per hectare of land, return on investment (1.68 and 0.86). The mean efficiencies of both practices were significant(p<05). The OIC and VAC farmers were operating at the second level of production frontier with return to scale of less than unity (0.457 and 0.448). Constraints identified are inadequate finance, expensive stems, inadequate extension agents' visit, low market demand, high labour cost and grazing of farmland by herders. Unique contribution to theory, practice, and policy: Vitamin A Cassava and other improved cassava were smallholder farmers who were technologically inspired to transform inputs into output to earn income, food for households and poverty alleviation, and to achieve these, they need to improve on technical, allocative and economic efficiencies of production. It is recommended that cassava farmers develop saving culture and enter contract farming, multiply cassava stems, employ labour-saving technologies, government to create ready markets and encourage herders to establish ranches to prevent incursion of roaming cattle herds into farms.