Effect of Poverty on Production Efficiency of Vegetable Farming Households in Ogun State, Nigeria

In most Nigerian households, vegetables are consumed as a source of minerals and vitamins and in some case as substitutes to the more expensive animal protein. In spite of these economic potentials, in the Nigerian economy, most Vegetable Farming Households (VFH) are small scale producers. This study therefore examined the effect of resource use efficiency on poverty profile of VFHs in Ogun State, Nigeria. Data were obtained from randomly selected 160 VFH using a pre-tested questionnaire. The data were analysed by the use of Descriptive Statistics, Foster-Greer-Thobecke (FGT) index and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). Results revealed that majority (76.3%) of VFH heads were male, 74.4% had formal education, 89.4% were married and 36.9% were artisans. The average age of the VFH heads was 47 years and the mean monthly income was ₦20,200.00. FGT index estimate gave poverty incidence as 0.26 while poverty depth and severity were 0.37 and 0.009 respectively. The mean technical, allocative and economic efficiency of vegetable farming households were 62.3%, 68.9% and 43.2% respectively. SFA revealed that farm size, labour and fertilizer increased output (p<0.05) while (land) rent (p<0.05), fertilizer and agrochemical prices (p<0.01) as well as wages (p<0.01) increased costs in vegetable production. Furthermore; age, education, household size and poverty status (p<0.01) as well as farming experience, sex and household size (p