Technical Efficiency of Poultry (Broiler) Farms in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Increasing the amount and efficiency of poultry production in order to meet the food need of the rapidly increasing Nigerian population call for the need to promote technical efficiency in the production of poultry. Hence, this study examined the technical efficiency (TE) of poultry (broiler) farms in Oyo State. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting 193 poultry farmers in four Local Government Areas in Oyo State. Structured questionnaire was used to seek information on the socio-economic variables of the respondents, fixed and variable costs incurred, and the constraints faced by farmers in broiler production. The censored DEA model, descriptive statistics, and regression model were used in data analysis.

Results on TE showéd that 13.47%, 22.79% and 13.98% of the poultry farms were efficient on the basis of constant returns to scale (CRS), variable returns to scale (VRS) and scale efficiency (SE), having efficiency scores of 1. The mean TE values for all the poultry farms considered were found to be 0.56 (±0.27), 0.78 (±0.17), and 0.70 (±0.26) for CRS, VRS and SE respectively. The factors that significantly affect TE of the farmers include marital status, poultry farming experience, access to loan, and age. The various constraints facing the poultry farmers ranked in order of severity include inadequate capital which ranked first; fluctuations in feed cost, lack of credit facilities, high cost of labour, diseases and parasites, mortality of birds, and inaccessibility to good water source, among others.

There is room for improvement in the TE of poultry farmers; 44%, 22% and 30% considering CRS, VRS and SE respectively. Higher levels of efficiency in production will help to improve the availability of animal protein through improved broiler production, given the existing level of resources.