Effect of educational level on the technical efficiency of poultry farmers in Oyo state, Nigeria

Abstract

It is widely recognized that poultry farming productivity is not only influenced by technology/inputs enhancements but also by the efficiency with which available technologies/inputs are used. Technical inefficiency has also been attributed to farmer’s inability to correctly use farm inputs as prescribed, poor management practices etc. all of which are affected by the farmers’ level of knowledge. This study broadly assessed the effect of educational level of poultry egg farmers on their technical efficiency. A 4-stage sampling procedure was used to select 180 respondents. Structured questionnaire was administered to obtain data; descriptive analysis was used to assess educational level, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate technical efficiency, robust Ordinary Least Square regression to determine the effect of educational level on the farmers’ technical efficiency. This study found that 65.5% of the respondents had tertiary education, 15.6% had secondary education, 5% had primary education and 13.9% had no formal education. The mean efficiency of the respondents is 0.426, implying that they are more technically inefficient (57.4%) than they are technically efficient (42.6%). Secondary and tertiary education were found to have positive significant effects on the technical efficiency of the respondents at 1%. That is, farmers’ technical efficiency does not stop increasing at tertiary level of education as further search for knowledge facilitates higher efficiency. Therefore, it is recommended that poultry farmers should frequently undergo adequate and relevant education, workshop and training; adopt input minimisation and output maximisation management practices. Manual/literature accompanying drugs, vaccines and other poultry inputs should be clearly explained.