Production and scale efficiency of maize farming households in South-Western Nigeria

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate production and scale efficiency of maize producing farms in South-Western Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on a semi-parametric approach and uses a combination of econometrics and linear programming to build two stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model. Findings – Model findings shows existence of production and scale inefficiencies in maize production. The study concludes that there is still room for efficiency improvements in the existence of the current maize production technology. It also finds several socio-economic variables such as, off-farm work, education, extension services and credit, which positively impact on technical efficiency of farm households. Practical implications – Efficiency indicators could be used to monitor resource use efficiency in crop production by local government. Social implications – Efficiency improvements will increase maize production in the country which in turn reduce social unrest and food insecurity. Originality/value – This study is one of the first which has employed DEA approach to analyze maize productivity and pioneer in using non-traditional bootstrapping approach to obtain robust efficiency scores in the case of Nigeria.