Measuring production performance of Moringa oleifera

ABSTRACT

Moringa (Moringa oleifera L) is an underutilized vegetable mostly grown by smallholder farmers whose technical efficiency for this emerging crop is not well known. It is necessary that empirical evidence be developed on technical efficiency to optimize its production and promotion. The study estimated technical efficiency, and sources of technical inefficiency, among smallholder producers of moringa. A total of 360 growers were randomly selected from Osun and Oyo States. A stochastic production frontier model was employed, while correcting for heteroscedasticity in stochastic and inefficiency error terms. There was increasing return-to-scale and farmer average technical efficiency of about 82%. Fertilizer, seed, and labor were production-increasing variables; farm size decreased output of M. oleifera. Sources of farmer technical inefficiency were age, education level, and farmer experience. Formal skills development training could help improve technical and managerial capacities of farmers.

KEYWORDS:

• Moringa oleifera
• heteroscedasticity
• Nigeria
• technical efficiency

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to enumerators and farmers who provided responses to the questionnaire.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Availability of data and materials

Datasets used, and/or analyzed, during the study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study received an ethical clearance from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, and informed consent forms were presented to the moringa farmers.

Additional information

Funding

No funds were received from agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.