Kolawole Ogundari

Technical Efficiency of Nigerian Agriculture A Meta-Regression Analysis

The objectives of the study reported in this paper were, first, to uncover how specific characteristics account for systematic variation in the reported average technical efficiency (ATE) estimates across frontier studies, focusing on Nigerian agriculture, and, second, to identify factors driving the efficiency level of the sector over the years. The literature used for meta-regression analysis (MRA) covers the 12-year period from 1999 to 2010. The findings reveal that the hypothesis of publication bias in the selected literature is rejected, while the reported mean ATE from the primary studies denotes a genuine effect. An overall mean ATE of 72% was obtained from all the studies, which implies that there is still room for improvement in the efficiency of Nigerian agriculture. The MRA result shows that the reported ATE increased significantly as input use and year of survey from the primary studies increased. Year of publication from the studies has a significant positive effect on the reported ATE estimates. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that estimates in studies with a focus on cash crops appear significantly higher than in those focusing on non-cash crops. In addition, efficiency estimates of studies in the south-east and south are significantly lower than those from studies in the south-western part of the country.

Crop diversification and technical efficiency in food crop production: A study of peasant farmers in Nigeria

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify the trends in crop diversification (CD) while examining its impact on the technical efficiency of peasant farmers in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach - The paper employs the Herfindahl and Ogive indices to compute the diversification indices and the stochastic frontier production model (SFPM) to estimate the technical efficiency (TE) level of the farms using unbalanced panel data covering three farming seasons (2006/2007 to 2008/2009). Findings - The results of both the Herfindahl and Ogive indices showed that cropping pattern increased significantly with the intensification of crop diversification in the study across the three seasons. The result of the SFPM shows evidence of decreasing returns-to-scale and technical progress in the food crop production in the region. Education, extension, and CD are identified as efficiency increasing policy variables while an average TE level of about 81 percent was obtained from the analysis. Originality/value - To the best of the authors knowledge, this the very first study that employs panel data to analyze technical efficiency of farms in Nigeria.

Determinants of Household's Education and Healthcare Spending in Nigeria: Evidence from Survey Data

This study employs household-level data from Nigeria to examine expenditure patterns for educational and healthcare services for rural and urban households in the country. It uses a double-hurdle model that allows the analysis of both the decision to spend and how much to spend on educational and healthcare services. The empirical results show that a households decision on whether to spend and how much to spend on educational and healthcare services are positively and significantly related to household income, household size and the level of education of the household head. The findings also reveal that female-headed households tend to spend more on education of household members and healthcare services, compared to male-headed households.

Impact of Education on Household Welfare in Nigeria

Human capital development, especially higher educational attainment, attaches high premium to its expected economic benefits, in form of better welfare. This study investigates the effect of educational attainment of household head on two indicators of household welfare, namely labour market earnings and household per capita total expenditure on food and non-food items in Nigeria. The study uses the Double Hurdle (DH) model and Quantile Regression (QR) to address these objectives. The empirical results show that returns to schooling are substantially higher at the tertiary level of education compared with primary, secondary, and postgraduate levels of education in Nigeria. Furthermore, additional years of tertiary education attainment by household heads was found to increase household per capita total expenditure more than additional years of primary, secondary and postgraduate education. The implication of these findings is that the improvements in economic welfare of households in Nigerian is driven more by the attainment of tertiary education by household heads, relative to other levels of education.

The relationship between the shares of nutrient consumed across selected food groups and income in Nigeria: A short-run demand system

Purpose – The aim of this study is in twofolds. First, to take a critical look at nutrient consumed and its trends and second, to examine the relationship between share of nutrient consumed across selected food groups and per capita income in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – The author uses seemingly unrelated regressions. Findings – The result of the first objective reveals that the average calorie, protein and fat intakes were still below the recommended daily allowance since the 1960s as diets in Nigeria remained very much cereal-based over the years. Also, the results of objective two show that calorie, protein, and fat share of animal products respond positively but inelastic to the per capita income growth in Nigeria over the years. Originality/value – Contrary to previous studies, the present study is designed not to fit aggregated nutrient demand from various food items as a function of income, but to relate the nutrient share of each homogenous and heterogeneous food product categories to the aggregated nutrient intake from these food groups and per capita income in Nigeria.

Estimating nutrition-income elasticities in sub-Saharan Africa: implications on health

The study estimates calories, proteins and fats-income elasticities in sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Annual time series data for 43 countries covering 1975-2009 that yields a balanced panel was employed for the analysis. The nutrient-income elasticities are estimated based on the aggregate Engel Curve framework using Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) technique that is robust to autocorrelation and non-parametric plot. The empirical results show that a 10% increase in income will lead to about a 0.90%, 0.87%, and 0.73% rise in fats, proteins and calories supply, respectively in the region. This shows that the estimated nutrient-income elasticities are of small size. Other results show that the relationship between calorie and protein-income was found to be non-linear at higher income and diminished, as revealed by the estimated aggregate Engel Curve and non-parametric plot.

Convergence and determinants of change in nutrient supply: Evidence from sub-Saharan African countries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use cross-country data to investigate whether convergence process exists in per capital nutrient supply and also identify the determinants of change in per capita nutrient supply in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Design/methodology/approach – Annual time series data for 43 countries covering 1975-2009 that yields balanced panel were employed for the analysis. The convergence hypothesis is examined based on the neoclassical growth model using feasible generalized least square approach that is robust to autocorrelation and cross-sectional dependence. Findings – The empirical results lend support to existence of convergence process in nutrient supply in SSA. Evidence of convergence in nutrient supply may have contributed to observed reduction in incidence of food-poverty in the region, which aligns with the argument in literature that recent Africa food security gains are due to food imports. The results of the determinants of change in nutrient supply showed that, global...

Estimating and analysing cost efficiency of sawmill industries in Nigeria

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine cost efficiency and its determinants in Nigerian sawmill industries. Design/methodology/approach - A stochastic frontier model is employed on a total of 160 mills randomly selected across five states in south-western Nigeria in 2006. Findings - The results show an estimated average cost efficiency of 1.262. This suggests that an average mill incurs about 26 per cent costs above the frontier cost when processing planks from logs. Further analysis indicates that a significant level of cost ineffisciency is present in Nigerias sawmilling industry. Analysis of determinants of cost efficiency reveals that more years of education, experience, age, and level of capital investment reduce cost inefficiencies between 7 and 16 per cent. Sawmill operation is found to be associated with economies of scale in the study area. Originality/value - The paper contributes to existing studies on the efficiency of sawmill industries in Nigeria by taking a holistic assessment of the industry from a cost perspective.

Maize supply response to price and nonprice determinants in Nigeria: bounds testing approach

This paper estimates the responses of maize supply to own price, price of yam, price of cassava, rainfall, and fertilizer use in Nigeria using a fully modified ordinary least squares and ordinary least squares estimators. I find that in the long run, maize supply responds significantly and positively to own price and yam price, rainfall, and fertilizer use, but negatively to the price of cassava. I observe that the short-run supply responds only to the fertilizer use and rainfall, which are positive and negative, respectively.

A Note on Socio-Economic Characteristics and the Demand for Beverages in Nigeria: Does Income Matter?

The paper investigates demand characteristics of beverage consumption with a focus on the role of income in Nigeria. It uses double hurdle model to analyze the probability of purchasing beverages and the demand for beverages based on the 2003/2004 Nigeria Living Standards Survey (NLSS) data. Within this context, the empirical results show that household income increases the probability of purchasing and the demand for beverages in the study. Specifically, our results reveal that 10 percent rises in household income increases the consumption of beverages by about 17 percent. Meaning that an average household in the sample considered the demand for beverages to be luxury. But a closer look at the result across income groups show that households in the low and high-income groups considered the demand for beverages to be necessity and luxury, respectively in the study.