ISSN 2360-798X
Abstract
Accepted 14th June, 2016
This study examined climate change adaptation strategies and technical efficiency of cassava production in Ekiti State, Nigeria. It specifically identified the socio-economic characteristics, the various causes of climate changes perceived, the different coping strategies employed to meet with climate change adversity and analyzed the determinants of technical efficiency of cassava production in the study area. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to obtain data from 180 cassava farmers that were selected from 3 Local Government Areas in Ekiti State based on their size of cassava yield. Descriptive analysis and stochastic frontier production function were used to analyze the data. The proportion and various adaptation strategies employed by the cassava farmers were; Adoption of new varieties (60.6%), changing farmland (57.9%), changing planting date (91.1%), improving farming practices (75.6%), weather monitoring (85.6%), off farm activities (72.2%), and increase land size culture (27.8%). The influence of climate change adaptation strategies on the technical efficiency of respondents revealed that technical inefficiency effects existed in cassava production in the study area as confirmed by the gamma value of 0.973 that was significant at 1 percent level. The productivity analysis showed that farm size, fertilizer, labour, planting material and farm tools were efficiently utilized, whereas, it was not in the case of agrochemical whose utilization was already in the stage three of the production region. The return to scale (RTS) of 1.152 showed that cassava production was in irrational stage of the production surface. The Technical Efficiency varied substantially between 0.149 and 0.984 with mean value of 0.866. Farmers’ socio- economic variables represented by age and farming experience contributed positively to technical efficiency of the farmers. The level of education, household size and extension service however reduced technical efficiency of the farmers. Cassava production could therefore be increased by awareness creation and extensive education on climate change and possible coping strategies to be used, efforts should be geared towards increasing the technical manpower of farmers, and a land redistribution policy that will increase the farm size of farmers, since they are mainly small scale farmers, which will boost cassava production.
Keywords: Climate Change, Adaptation Practices, Cassava Production, Technical Efficiency