ABSTRACT
It has been observed that women
are involved in agricultural production generally and sweet potato production
in particular, yet their contributions to food production have not been
recognized by both the male folk and government established agencies. This
study examined gender and relative efficiency in sweet potato production in Imo
State of Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed in selecting
one hundred and twenty (sixty-four women and fifty-six men) sweet potato
farmers in the State. A cost-route method of data collection was used to obtain
information on the socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers, problems
confronting them in sweet potato production, farmers' output, inputs and their
prices. Descriptive statistics such as means. frequencies and percentages were
used in analyzing the data on the socioeconomic variables and the problems
confronting the farmers. The Cobb-Douglas and Transcendental logarithmic
functional forms of the stochastic frontier were estimated using the Maximum
Likelihood Estimation (MLE) technique to obtain the technical, allocative and
economic efficiencies of the farmers. The t-statistic was used to compare the
mean output of the men sweet potato farmers and their women counterparts. It
was also used in testing hypothesis of no significant difference in technical,
economic and allocative efficiencies across gender. The results indicate that
the mean ages of the men and women sweet potato farmers were 45 years and 44
years, and with mean household size of 7 and 6 persons respectively. The mean
years of formal education was 7 years for men and 8 years for women. indicating
that the sweet potato farmers had formal education. The result further revealed
that the men farmers were more experienced than their women counterparts and
had larger farm size than the women as shown by the mean of 0.41 hectare
against 0.36 hectare of the women farmers. The major constraints facing the
sweet potato farmers were identified to be poor storage facilities, lack of
fertilizers, scarcity of sweet potato vines, high cost of labour and pests and
discases. It was again revealed from the study that farming experience, level
of education, household size, credit, age and farm size had positive influence
on efficiency. The result of the efficiency indices indicated that the mean
technical efficiency for the men and women sweet potato farmers were 85% and
92% respectively. It further indicated that the mean economic efficiency was
71% for the men and 82% for the women sweet potato farmers while the mean
allocative efficiency was 83% for the men and 86% for the women farmers. The
result of the tstatistic showed that the mean output of the men sweet potato
farmers was significantly higher than their women counterparts. It also
revealed that the women sweet potato farmers were significantly more
technically efficient than their men counterparts; while there was no
significant difference in the allocative efficiency of the farmers across
gender, as revealed by the t-statistic. Based on these results, appropriate
policies and programmes that could enhance efficiency among the sweet potato
farmers like encouraging them to acquire formal education to at least secondary
school level and strengthening of Adult and nomadic education were recommended
as education affected efficiency positively.
NDUKWU, N (2023). Gender And Relative Efficiency In Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas) Production In Imo State, Nigeria:- Ndukwu, Patrick C.. Mouau.afribary.org: Retrieved Nov 14, 2024, from https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/gender-and-relative-efficiency-in-sweet-potato-ipomoea-batatas-production-in-imo-state-nigeria-ndukwu-patrick-c-7-2
NDUKWU, NDUKWU. "Gender And Relative Efficiency In Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas) Production In Imo State, Nigeria:- Ndukwu, Patrick C." Mouau.afribary.org. Mouau.afribary.org, 17 Oct. 2023, https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/gender-and-relative-efficiency-in-sweet-potato-ipomoea-batatas-production-in-imo-state-nigeria-ndukwu-patrick-c-7-2. Accessed 14 Nov. 2024.
NDUKWU, NDUKWU. "Gender And Relative Efficiency In Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas) Production In Imo State, Nigeria:- Ndukwu, Patrick C.". Mouau.afribary.org, Mouau.afribary.org, 17 Oct. 2023. Web. 14 Nov. 2024. < https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/gender-and-relative-efficiency-in-sweet-potato-ipomoea-batatas-production-in-imo-state-nigeria-ndukwu-patrick-c-7-2 >.
NDUKWU, NDUKWU. "Gender And Relative Efficiency In Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas) Production In Imo State, Nigeria:- Ndukwu, Patrick C." Mouau.afribary.org (2023). Accessed 14 Nov. 2024. https://repository.mouau.edu.ng/work/view/gender-and-relative-efficiency-in-sweet-potato-ipomoea-batatas-production-in-imo-state-nigeria-ndukwu-patrick-c-7-2