Analysis of Production Efficiency of Sheabutter (Vitellaria Paradoxa) in Oke Ogun Area of Oyo State

Abstract

A multi-stage sampling technique was used in selecting respondents for this study. The first stage involved a purposive selection of three Local Government Areas (LGAs) that are known primarily for Shea butter production in the state. In the second stage, two communities were randomly selected from each of the LGAs to arrive at a total of 6 communities. Three Local government areas were selected with a total number of 100 respondents were sampled in the study area. The people used traditional methods of production because of their low level of education (only 1% of producer respondent had tertiary education) and the high cost of modern technology. The result of the estimates for parameters of the frontier model on the determinants of technical efficiency showed that cost of labour (P>0.01), fixed variables (P>0.05) and consumable variables (P>001) were negatively related to technical efficiency of Shea butter production and were significant at various levels. The significant value of these variables and their negative effects as shown affirmed the fact that these inputs were the major factors driving the technical efficiency of Shea butter production in Oke Ogun areas of Oyo state. The quantity of seed was positively related to technical efficiency and significant at 1%. This indicated that the more the Shea nut availability the higher the technical efficiency of Shea butter production in the study area.