Evaluation of the Technical Effectiveness of Nigeria's Cross River State Poultry Farmers

Abstract

According to reports, one of the main issues Nigerians are currently facing is a lack of sufficient protein consumption, both in terms of quantity and quality, to sustain the country's constantly expanding population. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the technical efficiency of poultry producers in Nigeria's Cross River State. The study employed a purposive and random selection strategy to choose 295 poultry farmers. Structured questionnaires and an interview schedule were used to gather data, and descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier production functions were used to analyze the results. The estimated production function of day-old chicks was significant at the 1% level, meaning that an increase of 0.401 percent in the proportion of chicks will result in an increase in output. Extension visits, association membership, and credit all had negative correlations, suggesting that these factors improve chicken farmers' technical efficiency. Additionally, chicken producers have an average technical efficiency of 58%, which suggests that, given the state of technology now, technical efficiency may rise by 42% if the resources available are used effectively. Therefore, it is advised that credit be made available and used, as this can greatly increase welfare and productivity. To boost poultry farmers' productivity in the Study Area, the government should also promote extension visits and association participation.