ABSTRACT
This study investigated resource
use efficiency of Fadama III and non-Fadama III beneficiary rice farmers in
Niger State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected using questionnaire/interview
schedule administered to a sample of one hundred and twenty rice farmers,
selected using multi-stage sampling technique. Data were analyzed using
descriptive statistics, stochastic frontier production function, return to
scale analysis, gross margin analysis, net farm income analysis and likert
scale rating technique. Maximum likelihood estimates of the Cobb-Douglas
frontier function showed that coefficient of seeds (0.479), labour ( 0.445) and
herbicides ( 0.093) had significant effects on output of Fadama III beneficiary
rice farmers while fertilizer ( 0.069) is the input with significant effect on
output of the non-beneficiary farmers. The estimated coefficients of the
inefficiency model revealed that age, household size, educational level,
extension contact and Fadama advisory services positively affected Fadama III
rice farmers’ technical efficiency, but only age and educational level were
significant. On the other hand, age, household size and extension contact
positively affected non-Fadama III rice farmers’ technical efficiency, but only
extension contact was significant. An increasing return to scale of 1.432 and
1.168 were recorded for the Fadama III and non-Fadama III rice farmers,
respectively. The technical efficiencies of the Fadama III rice farmers ranged
from 0.411 – 1 with a mean value of 0.79 while that of the non Fadama III beneficiary
rice farmers ranged from 0.435 – 0.989 with a mean value of 0.81 on the scale
of 1.This showed that technical efficiency can be increased by 21 and 19
percents to attain optimal level in the Fadama III and non Fadama III
beneficiary rice farmers, respectively. Allocative efficiency analysis showed
that all resource inputs were underutilized. Fadama III rice farmers made a
gross margin of N69, 288.37, a net farm income of N67, 599.91 and a return on
Naira Invested of 1.81 per ha while the non-Fadama III rice farmers made a
gross margin of N30, 250.36, a net farm income of N28, 550.26 and a return on
Naira invested of 1.12 per ha. The student t-test showed that there was no
significant difference between the technical efficiencies of Fadama III and non-Fadama
III beneficiary rice farmers. However, the t-test showed a significant
difference between the profit of the Fadama III and non-Fadama III rice
farmers. The study recommended that project implementers should tackle the
challenge of elite capture, inputs diversion and intensify advisory
services/training, while policy makers facilitate the usage of high yielding
seeds, labour saving technology and agro-chemicals for rice farmers.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
to the Study
The food
sub-sector of Nigerian agriculture has a large array of staple crops, but rice
has risen to a position of pre-eminence. At independence in 1960, rice was
merely a festival food consumed mostly in affluent homes during the Christmas
and other religious festivals (UNEP,2002). However, as shown in the report of
Akpokoye, Lancon and Erenstein (2001), since the mid-1970s, rice consumption in
Nigeria has risen tremendously, (+10.3% per annum) as a result of accelerating
population growth rate and changing consumer preferences. Urbanization appears
to be the main cause of the shift in consumer preferences towards rice in
Nigeria. Rice is easy to prepare compared to other traditional cereals, thereby
reducing the chore of food preparation and fitting more easily the urban
lifestyles of rich and poor alike. The poorest third of urban households obtain
33% of their cereal-based calories from rice, and rice purchases represent a
major component of cash expenditures on cereals (World Bank 1991).
Ogundele
and Okoruwa (2006) noted that in an apparent move to respond to the increased
per capita consumption of rice in Nigeria, local production boomed, averaging
9.3% per annum. These increases have been traced to vast expansion of cropped
rice area at an annual average of 7.9% and to a lesser extent to an increase in
rice yield of 1.49% per annum. In spite of this, the production increase was
not sufficient to match the consumption increase.
Rice
production, according to Onoja (2007), can be found in each of the geopolitical
zones of the country. These extend from the Northern to Southern zones with
most rice grown in middle Belt (Niger, Benue, Kaduna, Kogi and Taraba States)
and the Eastern states (Enugu, Cross River and Ebonyi States). Daramola (2005)
According
to Singh et al (1997) rice production systems in Nigeria include upland
rainfed, lowland rainfed, irrigated lowland and deep water and mangrove rice.
Daramola (2005) asserted that mangrove is the least important in terms of area,
accounting for less than 1% of the total rice area with deep water accounting
for 5% of the rice production area, although this figure is most likely
overestimated given the physical unit to area expansion in this environment. Of
the estimated three million metric tons of annual rice production, three major
rice production systems, namely upland rainfed, lowland rainfed and irrigated
productions account for 97%. West African Rice Development Association – WARDA
(2003) and Daramola (2005) agree that lowlands without water control i.e.
Fadama areas are the main ecology followed by upland and irrigated rice.
In
order to address the demand /supply gap, governments have at various times come
up with policies and programmes. These include National Accelerated Food
Production Programme established in 1972, Agricultural Development Project
established in 1975, Operation Feed the Nation established in 1975, River Basin
Development Authority established in 1978, the Green Revolution established in
1980, the Directorate of Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure established in
1985, National Land Development Authority established in 1988, National Fadama
Development programme established in 1992 and FADAMA II established in 2004.
The
first National Fadama Development Project was approved on March 26, 1992 and
became effective February 23, 1993. Small scale irrigation in the fadama has
been hampered by several constraints which include poor infrastructure in the
Fadamas, low investment in technology development and extension for irrigated
agriculture, weak financial intermediation, poorly organized Fadama Farms and
limited access to foreign exchange for importation of irrigation equipment. The
first.....
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Item Type: Postgraduate Material | Attribute: 90 pages | Chapters: 1-5
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