Determinants of Technical Efficiency in Urban Food Crop Production in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria

Urban Farm DB summary

This study analyzed the level and determinants of technical efficiency among urban crop farmers in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. A random sample of 85 farmers was selected from three areas where urban food crop production is prominent — Ajibode, Ijokodo, and Eleyele — with data collected via structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics and a stochastic production frontier based on the Cobb-Douglas production function. Results showed that farmland, family labor, and plantlings were statistical determinants of urban food crop production, while fertilizer and hired labor were not statistically significant. In the technical efficiency model, full-time engagement in urban farming and a sole-cropping pattern were positively related to technical efficiency, and increases in age, experience, and years of formal education raised the level of technical efficiency. The study concludes there remains room to raise the current level of technical efficiency in the study area, and that educating farmers to be more receptive to modern technologies from the agricultural research system can raise output per unit of input.