Effects of Soil Erosion on Technical Efficiency of Cassava Farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of soil erosion on technical efficiency of cassava farming in Enugu State, Nigeria with a view to identifying the effects of erosion on cassava production.  A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 200 respondents for the study. Primary data were collected on respondents’ socio-economic characteristics such as age, gender, educational level, marital status, farm size, as well as on quantities and prices of inputs and outputs using a pre-tested questionnaire. Technical efficiency (TE) estimates showed that most farmers operated below the production frontier, with a significant difference (p< 0.05) between the mean TE of eroded farms (56 ± 0.19) percent and non-eroded (77 ± 0.17) farms. Farm size, labour, cassava stem cuttings, and fertilizer significantly (p<0.05) increased the level of TE in non-eroded farms, while only fertilizer significantly affected the TE in eroded farms. Significant (p<0.05) inefficiency factors on non-eroded farms were education, age, household size, and extension contact, while education and age were significant (p<0.05) in eroded farms. It was concluded that farmers in eroded farms were less technically efficient in their use of resources than farmers in non-eroded farms in Enugu State.

Keywords: Enugu state, Erosion, maximum likelihood, stochastic frontier, technical efficiency