Effect of Land Tenure System on Technical Efficiency of Selected Arable Crop Farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effect of land tenure system on technical efficiency of arable crop farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A total of one hundred and thirteen (113) Arable Crop Farmers in Uyo Zone were selected for the study using a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected from the respondents using a questionnaire. Descriptive Statistics and the Stochastic Frontier Production Function was used to analyze the collected data. The result revealed that female farmers dominated the study area with a visible mean household size of 5 people per home. 59.3% of the respondents were married, 58.4% had a form of tertiary education while 70.8% of the respondents were visited atleast once by extension agents. The study also revealed that age, farm size, farming experience, level of education, credit, labour and land were part of the determinants of technical efficiency. It noted tenure security as a major influence to technical efficiency. Finding on the constraint to arable crop farmers indicated that out of 15 constraints analysed, thirteen were severe. From the result, the highest rated constraints to arable crop farmers was high cost of acquiring land, followed by land fragmentation/intensified s. Absence of mechanization, untimely farm inputs and insufficient capital were the next rated constraints. The table also showed the least rated constraint to arable crop production as communal instability, followed by Herders and Farmers clash. The study recommended the formulation of appropriate land policies geared towards land tenure security.