Allocative Efficiency among Fadama Fluted Pumkin Farmers in Imo State, Nigeria

The study investigated the allocative efficiency among Fadama Fluted pumpkin farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. It specifically sought to analyze the Farmers’ socio-economic profile; estimate their allocative efficiency as well as its determinants. A multistage random sample of 120 Fadama Fluted Pumpkin farmers drawn from the three agricultural zones of the state was employed. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-economic characteristics and other relevant variables. Allocative efficiency was deduced from the quotient between economic efficiency and technical efficiency scores and regressed against farm specific factors. The t-test statistic was employed in testing determinants of allocative efficiency. The descriptive statistical results showed that majority of the farmers are active small holders and literate with many years of farming experience. The enterprise was female dominated while household was large. The maximum likelihood estimation of the translog model revealed that allocative efficiency was influenced by education, farming experience, extension contact, credit access and household size. Given the mean allocative efficiency of 0.62, about 51.67% of the respondents are frontier farmers. Also, the average Fadama Fluted pumpkin farmer would require a cost savings of 37.37% in order to attain the status of the most allocative efficient producer. As more opportunities exist for improvement of allocative efficiency by the Fadama Farmers, the need to intensify the current family planning programme in Nigeria as well as eliminate extended bureaucratic processes associated with credit access cannot be over emphasized.