Determinants of food security and technical efficiency of cassava farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria

Cassava is one of the most important staple food crops in Nigeria. It is one of the priority food crops necessary for improved food security and poverty reduction in Nigeria. The study investigated the determinants of food security and technical efficiency of cassava farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria using Food Security index, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Heckman probit model. The study used primary data and a multistage sampling technique was used to randomly select 120 respondents. Findings revealed that 43% of the respondents were food secured. The shortfall and surplus indices were 0.13 and 0.20 respectively. DEA results indicated that about 80% of the respondents had technical efficiency above 0.50 while the average technical efficiency was 0.83. The results of Heckman probit model also showed that farming experience, education, age, cassava output, number of dependants, access to credit, access to extension agent, distance to farm and farm size were the factors that influenced technical efficiency and food security in the study area. It is therefore concluded that improving technical efficiency of the cassava farmers will be an antidote to the problem of food insecurity in the area. This can be achieved by improving agricultural extension services as well as the educational background of the farmers to strengthen the activities of the Agricultural Credit Schemes policy to grant more loans to farmers at a low interest rate for increased productivity and subsequent increase in technical efficiency thereby improving food security further in Ondo State.