ABSTRACT
As one of the main staple food for urban and rural people, a wide variety of cassava based dishes are consumed. According to IITA, high cost of production and processing are the key constraints to competitive production and commercialization of cassava in Nigeria, however these can be attributed to low productivity. This study was conducted to analyze the Technical Efficiency of Cassava production among smallholder farmers in Ikpoba okha Local Government Area, Edo state, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the socioeconomic characteristics of cassava farmers in the study area, determine the costs and returns of cassava production, estimate the technical efficiency of farmers in production, ascertain the factors affecting technical efficiency of the farmers and identify the constraints of cassava production in the study area. Data were collected through a well-structured questionnaire and assisted with interview schedule through a simple random sampling of 120 respondents in the study area, and 70 was found useable for the analysis. Data analysis was carried out with the use of descriptive statistics such as frequency count, percentage, standard deviation and inferential statistics. The result revealed that some (51.43%) of the farmers were male and fall within the age range of 46 – 55 yrs with average farming experience of about 24years. The costs and returns analysis showed that profit accrued from the production/Ha was (₦632,810.40). This showed that cassava production is profitable in the study area. The result also showed that the technical efficiency ranged from 0.10-1.00 with a mean value of 0.63, an indication that the farmer is operating at 37% below the frontier, which shows an efficiency gap between the cassava farmers in the study area. The result also showed that the technical inefficient of the household size was (-1.070), indicating a positive technical efficiency with the farmer. The return to scale computed was (2.860) indicating that the farmers were operating at rational region. While the major constraint faced by the respondents in the study area was poor purchase price, pest and disease attack, Herdsmen, high cost of input, inadequate credit, inadequate market and inadequate labour supply. It can be concluded from the above result that cassava production is lucrative and has potential of substantial revenue remuneration in the study area, and as such recommended among others, Promotion of the adoption of modern farming practices that can be effectively utilized by larger households to enhance productivity and efficiency.
