Input Use Efficiency of Cocoa Production among Small Scale Farmers in Ondo State

Abstract

The study is on the analysis of the input use efficiency of cocoa production among small scale farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. The primary objective was to analyze the input use efficiency of cocoa production among small scale farmers in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ondo State. Primary data were collected using the multistage sampling techniques with the aid of structured questionnaire. The descriptive and inferential (Cobb-douglasStochastic Frontier Model) statistical tool of analysis was used to analyze the 120 respondents collected. The result of the analysis shows that majority of the farmers are male and are between the age 41-50 years. Majority (76.7%) is married and most of them (44.2%) had formal education. Furthermore, the study reveals that most of the farmers (32.5%) had between 21-30 years of farming experience and had between 3-4 hectares of cocoa plantation. Inputs that are found to be statistically significant at 1% level of significance to cocoa production are labour, chemicals and farm tools as well as farm size. However, fertilizer was found significant but has an inverse relationship with cocoa production. The elasticity of production was found to be 1.2134 indicating that the farmers are under-utilizing the inputs necessary for cocoa production. It was recommended that the use of variable inputs should be increased for optimal level of cocoa output. Also, inputs should be made readily available to farmers by the government at a cheaper and accessible way and extension services from relevant agencies like ADP and the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria should be intensified.