Productivity Growth in Food Crop Production in Imo State, Nigeria

Agriculture plays pivotal roles in Nigeria including food security,\nemployment, foreign exchange earnings and poverty reduction. This study\nexamined the growth in food crop productivity in Imo State in Nigeria\nwith emphasis on the decomposition of total factor productivity (TFP)\ninto technical progress, changes in technical and allocative efficiency\nand scale effects. A panel data set comprising 210 observations drawn\nover 2001 - 2007 periods was used. Using the translog stochastic\nfrontier production function, the decomposition components were\ncomputed. The results showed that TFP decreased through time, while\ntechnical change was negative, implying downward shift of the\nproduction frontier. As a major component, technical change was the\nmain constraint to the achievement of high levels of TFP during the\nstudy period. The scale effect, which is generally bigger than\ntechnical change component shows that the sampled farms had not taken\nadvantage of scale economies. Furthermore, the allocative efficiency\nhad an average magnitude closer to the scale effect and points towards\ndecreases in the efficiency with which production factors are\nallocated. This is an indication of a decline in technical efficiency.\nWe suggest reforms in the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs)\ngeared towards enhancing their capacity in extending novel technologies\nand innovations to farmers.