FARM LEVEL ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY OF RICE PRODUCTION IN LGA’S OF NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Rice is a staple food crop in Nigeria, the demand for rice has been increasing at much faster rate in Nigeria than in other West
African countries since the mid- 1970s. For example, Nigeria‘s per-capita rice consumption level has grown significantly at
7.3% per annum, rising from 18kg in the 1980s to 22kg in 1990s but production rate is relatively low. The low productivity is
mostly attributed to allocative inefficiency. Allocative efficiency (AE) considers farmers‘ ability to allocate resources
efficiently, by producing the maximum possible output at minimum cost. Increasing AE requires an understanding of the
specific sources of inefficiency that vary across farm enterprises, geographically and temporally. This research will help to
discover how farmers can increase production of rice so that there will be less amount invested in importation of rice, in
addition it will also be useful for policy intervention. A cross-sectional study was carried out in some selected local
government in Niger state, Nigeria to assess the sources of farm-level allocative inefficiency in rice production using the Data
Envelopment Approach System. Data were collected from a random sample of 120 smallholder rice farmers. Results show that
the mean AE was 42.9%. Land ownership, Area cultivated, Gender, and Quantity of Fertilizer used had significant effects on
AE. We recommend adoption of technologies such as the use of ox-ploughs to enable farmers plough large area of land for
rice cultivation and reallocation of farm resources especially quantity of fertilizer used and gender balance.