TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE
i
CERTIFICATION
ii
ABSTRACT iii
DEDICATION
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
vii
LIST OF TABLES xi
LIST OF FIGURES
xiii
LIST OF
APPENDICES
xiv
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
1
Background
Information of the Study
1
Problem
Statement 4
Objectives of the
Study
8
Research
Hypothesis
9
Justification of the
Study
9
Limitations of the
Study
12
Plan of the
Report
13
CHAPTER TWO:
LITERATURE REVIEW – 15
Morphological
Description of Cassava 16
Cassava Production in
the World
17
Advances in Root and
Tuber Crop Production Technology 19
The Potential
Economic Importance of Cassava 23
Farming Systems
Adopted in Cassava Production
28
Farming Conditions of
the Small-Holder Farmer 30
Efficiency of
Resource Use by Cassava Farmers
31
Economics of Cassava
Production and Marketing
36
Conceptual and
Empirical Framework 38
2.10 Theoretical and
Analytical Framework
42
2.10.1 Tobit
Model
47
Efficiency
Measures
49
Allocative
Efficiency
50
Economic
Efficiency
50
Profit Frontiers 51
Stochastic Frontier
Production Function 51
CHAPTER THREE:
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 54
Description of the
Study Area
54
Sampling
Procedure
58
Data Collection
59
Data Analysis
59
Model
Specification
60
Technical
Efficiency
60
Inefficiency Model
61
Tobit Model
63
Normalized Profit
Function
66
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
AND DISCUSSION
68
Socio-Economic
Characteristics of Respondents
68
Age of the
Farmers
68
Gender
Participation
70
Household Size
71
Farming
Experience
73
Level of Educational
Attainment of Respondents 74
Occupational
Distribution of the Respondents 75
Farming Systems and
Cassava Production in Abia state 77
Cropping System 77
Calendar of Farm
Operations 78
Household Farm
Holdings 81
Livestock Production
in Abia state 82
Size of Cassava
Farm 83
Cost Implications and
Returns to Cassava Enterprise 84
Analysis of Costs and
Returns ( Profitability Index ) 87
Estimation of
Technical Efficiency 89
Determinants of
Technical Efficiency 94
Elasticity of
Production and Returns to Scale
97
Technical Efficiency
Estimate of Cassava Farmers in Abia-State
98
Estimation of
Economic Efficiency
99
Determinants of
Economic Efficiency (Profitability) for Cassava Production in Abia-State 103
Economic Efficiency
Estimate of Cassava Farmers in Abia State 105
Test of Hypothesis for Technical and Economic
Efficiency of Cassava Farmers in Abia-State using Generalized Likelihood Ratio
(LR) 106
Estimation of the
Factors that Influence Technology Adoption Rate and Use Intensity
107
Constraints to
Increased Cassava Production in the Study Area
110
CHAPTER FIVE:
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
113
Summary
113
Conclusion
115
Recommendations 117
Suggestions for
Further Research
119
REFERENCES
121
APPENDICES 133
LIST OF TABLES
Table:
Page
4.1 Frequency Distribution of Respondents
According to Age 68
4.2 Frequency Distribution of Respondents
According to Gender 70
4.3 Frequency Distribution of Respondents
According to Household Size 72
4.4 Frequency Distribution of Respondents According
to Farming Experience 73
4.5 Frequency Distribution of Respondents
According to Level of Formal Education Attained 74
4.6 Frequency Distribution of Respondents
According to their Primary Occupation
76
4.7 Frequency Distribution of Respondents
According to their Total Farm Holding
82
4.8 Frequency Distribution of Respondents
According to their Cassava Farm Size
83
4.9 Results of Budgetary Analysis per Hectare of
Cassava Enterprise 86
4.10 Maximum
Likelihood Estimates of the Cobb-Douglas Stochastic Production Function (Technical) 91
4.11 Maximum
Likelihood Estimate of the Translog Stochastic Production Function
(Technical)
92
4.12 Elasticity and
Returns to Scale for Cassava Production (Technical) 97
4.13 Frequency
Distribution of Technical Efficiency Indices 98
4.14 Maximum
Likelihood Estimate of the Stochastic Cobb-Douglas Cost function for Cassava
Farmers 100
4.15 Maximum
Likelihood Estimate of the Translog Stochastic Cost Function for Cassava
Farmers 101
4.16 Frequency
Distribution of Economic Efficiency Indices 105
4.17 Test of
Hypothesis that Cassava Farmers in Abia-State are Fully Technically and
Economically Efficient 106
4.18 Tobit Model Estimates of Factors
Affecting Adoption Rate and Use Intensity of Cassava Production
Technologies
107
4.19 Frequency
Distribution of the Respondents According to the Constraints they faced in the
Survey Year 111
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure:
Page
Location of Abia State in Nigeria 56
3.2 Map of Abia State showing all the 17 Local
Government Areas 57
4.1 Calendar of Farm Operations for Cassava
Enterprise in Abia-State 78
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix:
Page
Letter to the Sampled
Farmers / Respondents
133
Questionnaire Design
for the Cassava Farmers 134
Computer print-out of
Output from the Program Frontier 4.1c (Technical) 148
Computer print-out of
Output from the Program Frontier 4.1c (Economic) 161
Computer print-out of
Tobit Estimate with Stata 8.2 (Statistics/Data Analysis) 173
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION OF THE STUDY
Cassava, (Manihot
esculentum crantz), belongs to the family of euphorbiaceae. It is believed that
the crop originated from Brazil and was introduced to West Africa by the
Portuguese traders. It exists in many cultivars which can be distinguished by
size, colour, shape of the leaf, branching habit, plant height, colour of the
stem, root shape, size and colour, maturity time of the root and level of
hydrocyanic content (Anyanwu, 2006). Cassava is Africa’s food insurance crop
with stable yield, even with low rainfall, low fertility and low inputs (FAO,
2008). Cassava is becoming an important industrial raw material and a foreign
exchange earner. Cassava’s role as food security crop as well as a cash crop is
receiving high attention for poverty alleviation by the developing world and
partners (FAO, 2008).
Cassava is ranked the
6th most important crop in the world in terms of area planted and production
(FAO, 1986). Africa is the highest cassava producer in the world, and more than
100 million people in tropical Africa depend on it as their dietary staple
(FAO, 2008). Globally, among the world’s producing regions, West Africa is
known to have the greatest share of the world’s production of cassava (FAO,
2008). Interestingly, Nigeria is the largest world producer of cassava with
yearly production of fresh tubers estimated at 10-13 million tons on a land
area of 1.2-1.4 million hectares (NAQAS, 2002). Nigeria’s lead on cassava
production in the world has been achieved through expansion of land areas
devoted to cassava cultivation (Ano, 2003). Of Africa’s 72.7 million tons of
cassava output in 1990, 26 million tons were produced in Nigeria (Ezedinma,
2003). Cassava is widely grown in Nigeria. For decades, cassava has been
cultivated as a subsistence crop in Nigeria. Currently, cassava cultivation has
become an income generating activity. This “enhanced” status is as a result of
increased demand for cassava and cassava products outside the rural communities
(Ikpi et al 1986), as well as the realization of the potentials it has for
contributing to the attainment of self-sufficiency in food production (Kwatia,
1980).
Cassava plays a major
role in Nigeria’s food security and 80% of the inhabitants in the rural areas
eat cassava meal at least once a day (Ezedinma, 2003). The crop is also a good
source of raw materials involved in the production of confectioneries, animal
feed, alcohol, adhesives, flour starch, etc. The growth of cassava as a major
economic and food security crop over the last two decades has generated
significant research interest at both the National and International levels.
For instance, the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA),
Ibadan and the National Root Crops Research Institute, (NRCRI), Umudike have
developed the Tropical Manihot Selection (TMS) 30555, 30572, 30211, 50395,
60506 and Umudike (U) 41044 varieties in the early 1970’s and 1980’s. Most
recently, new varieties of cassava were developed and they include, TMS 90257,
84537M, 82/00661, 30001, 81/00110, 91934, 4(2)1425, nr 41044, nr 8212, 8082,
8083, 8208, nr 83107, TMS 419, TMS 98/0581 and TMS 98/0510 (Ezulike
et-al,2006). These varieties are not only high yielding, but also are resistant
to pests and diseases such as Cassava Mosaic Disease, Cassava Bacteria Blight,
Cassava Mealy Bug and Cassava Green Spider Mite (Ezedinma, 2003).
Cassava’s combined
abilities to produce high yields under poor conditions and store its
harvestable portion underground up to nine months make it a classic “food
security crop. In recent years, this has proved of critical importance to many
people in Africa caught up in civil conflicts and unable to cultivate the
normal range of annual crops. Displaced groups of people in Mozambique during
that country’s 16 years’ war often survived on abandoned cassava fields
(Ezedinma, 2003). Because, it is a vegetative propagated crop, such plantings
can also serve as a ready supply of planting materials during rehabilitations
following conflict or drought.
Cassava is well-known
for being able to grow and produce food even in very poor soils. For that
reason, it is often grown at the margins of farms where the better land has
been reserved for the production of grain crops. In addition, once established,
cassava is relatively drought tolerant and when matured can survive up to six
months without rains. Cassava’s productive capacity in low-input conditions
comes at a certain cost in terms of carbohydrate quality and protein
concentrations. Cassava’s ability to produce food under marginal conditions has
made it a popular crop of Africa’s poor farmers who are unable to invest in
fertilizer or pesticides to protect the crop against environmental stresses and
biotic constraints (Ezedinma, 2006).
Although still a
subject of some debate, the center of origin of cassava is generally believed
to be the Southern border of the Amazon basin. Cassava was introduced in Africa
in the Congo River Delta by the Portuguese in the 15th century and spread
rapidly to many agro-ecologies of the continent; however, cassava is most important
in farming systems of the humid forest regions where the productivity of grain
crops is reduced by sunlight, foliar pests and diseases and grain storage is
more difficult. Cassava has very high yield potential, making it a viable
alternative to grain crops where population pressures have led to trade-off
between good quality and quantity (NAQAS 2002).
Commercial cassava
yields as high as 20 metric tons per hectare have been registered under
experimental conditions. Nigeria is presently the largest cassava producing country
in the world (FAO, 2008).
Presently, cassava
production is in the hands of small-holder farmers who rely predominantly on
simple tools like the hoe and cutlass powered by human effort. In 2002, the
Government of Nigeria launched a presidential initiative on cassava. The aim of
the initiative was to develop cassava as the engine of growth and diversify
Nigeria’s economic base away from its principal export-crude oil. If
investments in the downstream sector of the cassava industry are made more
effective, cassava can be used to improve rural and urban income and employment
in Nigeria (Ezedinma and Okechukwu, 2007). But the initiative will be
threatened if no substantial effort is made to improve the current production
systems. The requirements of consistent supply of large volumes of fresh roots
by cassava-based industries cannot be supported by the current production
systems. The critical constraints, however under such production systems is
labour cost which lies between 70 and 90% of total variable cost of production
(Ezedinma, 2000 and Okorji , 1985) in small holder farming.