Climate Change and Technical Efficiency of Yam Farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

Yam holds important position as a food and industrial crop in the Nigerian economy. Thus, the ability to meet
the future demand may hinge upon proper assessment of the effects of climate change on productivity and
economic efficiency of yam farmers in the country. The study was carried out in Ekiti State. Multi-stage
sampling technique was employed to select respondents for the study. One hundred and twenty (120)
respondents were sampled for this study. Information from 107 respondents were found suitable for analysis.
Data collected were subjected to descriptive, budgetary and stochastic frontier analyses. Results indicated that
most of the farmers were males (88%) with more than half (55%) above 50 years of age. Majority of the
farmers (93%) had formal education. Delay in rain onset (90%) was prevalent with mixed cropping (89%) and
mulching (88%) as the most coping strategies used to reduce its effect. The gross margin and profit were
? 71,820.00 and ? 69,520.00 respectively. Cost ratio (2.47) and percentage profit (147.04%) shows that yam
farming was profitable in the study area. Farm size and labour are positive and significant (p < 0.01) variables
in the production function estimated. Household size, education and adoption index had negation relation in
the model and contributed to technical efficiency in the system. It was concluded that yam production was
highly profitable in the area. Farmers were advised to reduce labour costs and thus increase profit margin.
Farmers should be encouraged to be educated as this will help them to employ more copping strategies against
climate change, consequently enhancing efficiency in the system.