Efficiency differentials and technological gaps in beef cattle production systems in Nigeria

The present study analysed the technical efficiency and technological gaps (TGR/MTR) in three major beef cattle production systems in Nigeria, using the stochastic metafrontier approach. The usual methods of dealing with technological differences makes it difficult to separate “technology gaps” from technical inefficiency within a given system, hence the need for an analytical framework such as metafrontier which allows us to distinguish between the two. Results show that technical inefficiency exists in the three production systems but the ranching system is more efficient, in that it has a higher MTR. The average pooled technical efficiency TE with respect to the metafrontier was estimated to be 0.56; this suggests that there is scope to improve beef output in Nigeria by up to 44% of the total potential, giving existing technologies and inputs