Pages: (1-9 )
Abstract
There exist in the literature diverse claims on the concept of land fragmentation with respect to its benefits and costs. To verify these claims, this paper sought to empirically establish the relation between land fragmentation as measured by Simpson index and the technical efficiency of maize farmers in northern Nigeria. Cross sectional surveys were conducted on a sample of 114 maize producers in eight communities of Kaduna State in northern Nigeria during 2006 cropping season. Stochastic frontier production model was used to estimate the individual farmers’ technical efficiency and the Simpson Index was specified as a function of technical efficiency and other socioeconomic characteristics that could affect farmers’ decisions to cultivate more plots of land. The results revealed that the technical efficiency of the sampled farmers was less than one (or less than 100%) indicating that all the maize farmers sampled were operating below the frontier. The mean technical efficiency of the maize farmers was 0.63 or 63 percent. Age, level of education, extension visit, farm mechanization, fertilizer usage, distance of farm from fertilizer market, and the technical efficiency of the farmers were the determinants of land fragmentation in the study area. The paper concluded that there existed a relationship between land fragmentation and maize farmers’ productivity. Policy on land reform should be tailored towards the provision of more farmlands to allow willing farmers have access to adequate farmlands for improved productivity.
Keywords: Land fragmentation, Simpson index, stochastic frontier, technical efficiency, Nigeria.,