A META-ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY IN NIGERIAN AGRICULTURE

This study sheds light on how study specific-characteristics impact mean technical efficiency (MTE) in Nigerian agriculture. Also the paper extracts consensus message about MTE and its drivers in Nigerian agriculture based on studies covering the period 1999-2008. A meta-analysis using truncated regression was employed on a total of sixty four studies which yield eighty six observations for the econometric analysis. The regression results show that MTE in Nigerian agriculture increased significantly over the years. Study specific-characteristics such as sample size, number of inputs used as well as studies with focus on crop and livestock production were found to significantly impact MTE. Further analyses show that studies in the Northcentral, Southwest, and Southsouth regions of the country produced higher MTE. Within the sample, seventy one observations contain quantitative results on sources of technical efficiency differences usually incorporating socio-economic variables. Based on this, fifty three percent identified educations as a significant determinant of technical efficiency while thirty eight percent showed that experience is important. Extension is shown to be an important determinant by twenty three percent of the observations while nineteen percent identified age as significant determinant of technical efficiency in Nigerian agriculture over the years.