Abstract:
The study was carried out to investigate the gender and resource use efficiency in cocoyam production in Anambra State, Nigeria. The study presents the results of analysis of data collected on 160 male and female cocoyam farmers across two Agricultural zones in the state. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select the zones. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequencies, means and tables were used in analyzing farmer’s socio-economic characteristics and production problems. The result showed that women constituted a greater percentage (68.75%) of those involved in cocoyam production in the state with age range of 41 to 50 years. The Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) technique was used in estimating the technical efficiency and determinants of efficiency of male and female farmers with the Cobb-Douglas production function as the lead model. The result of estimation of technical efficiency using the Cobb- Douglas stochastic function showed that the coefficients of male and female farmers for the production variables used were all positive. Cocoyam setts, labour and fertilizer use were significant while capital inputs were not significant for female cocoyam farmers. The result indicated that socio-economic conditions influenced technical efficiency of both categories of farmers. The coefficients of determinants of efficiency used were all positive except farm size that was negative and significant for both male and female cocoyam farmers while age, level of education, extension contact, knowledge index were all positive and significant for male farmers while other variables were not significant. Test of allocative efficiency revealed that none of defined farmer groups achieved absolute allocative efficiency. Male farmers underutilized fertilizer and over utilized other inputs in production while female farmers over utilized all the inputs. This result suggests that there exists the possibility of increasing output under existing level of technology through the use of lower levels of all inputs by male and female farmers except fertilizer for males. There is also scope to use higher levels of fertilizer for the male farmers. The result shows the mean output/kg of 2,450.20kg and 2,519.09kg with an average net profit of N62, 592.87 and N88, 378.12 and BCR of N1.85 and N2.16 for the male and female farmers respectively. This implies that cocoyam production was profitable in the study area. The results also showed that the elasticities of productions of male farmers is 0.43246 and that of female farmers is 1.1987. This shows a decreasing return to scale for male cocoyam farmers and increasing return for female cocoyam farmers. Finally, the study revealed that most of the farmers (male and female) encountered problems of root rot diseases at 90% and 90.91% respectively.
