Analysis of allocative efficiency in rice production under the national programme for food security (npfs) in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria: Implications for future investment strategies

Abstract

This study analysed the allocative efficiency of rice production under the National Programme for Food Security (NPFS) in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, with a view to guide future investment strategies. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to obtained data from 145 farmers with the aid of questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier production function. Majority (88%) of the respondents were males, and the average age of the respondents was 39.21 years. About 55% of them had one form of formal education or the other, while 63.5% of the respondents had access to credit of N74,508 on average. The diagnostic statistics; gamma (0.999) and sigma squared (2.492), were statistically significant at 1% probability level. Farmers operated below the maximum efficiency with a mean of (0.677) denoting an average farmer’s prospect of 32% improvement in utilization of resources. Education, access to credit facilities, membership of cooperatives and years of farming experience were observed to significantly influence the allocative efficiency of farmers. Government policy aimed at educating the farmers should be put in place to enhance their allocative efficiency. Input supply policy should be improved, while farmers should form cooperative societies to enable them access credit to improve rice production.