Adoption of orange-fleshed sweet potato and technical efficiency nexus in Nigeria: An endogeneity corrected stochastic production frontier approach

Due to low productivity and lack of essential nutrients like vitamin A in the traditional white and yellow potato, orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) was introduced to the farmers in Nigeria through a programmed tagged Jumpstarting Project. However, empirical data about its adoption and productivity are still lacking in the Nigerian context. This study examines the effect of the Jumpstarting Project on adoption and intensity of adoption of OFSP and measured the technical efficiency of OFSP smallholder farmers. The study used household-level data in Nigeria. Double hurdle regression and endogeneity corrected stochastic production frontier were used to analyze the data. Our result reveals that adoption of OFSP is significantly influenced by education level, farming experience, farm size, membership of associations, access to extension contacts and participation in the Jumpstarting Project. The mean technical efficiency from the endogeneity corrected stochastic frontier model is at 76% and 64% for the adopters and non-adopters, respectively. Our result argues that adoption and cultivation of OFSP significantly increased the productivity of the farmers, which is expected to translate into increased income for them. Our results suggest that to increase adoption of improved technologies, such as OFSP, both government and non-government agencies should prioritize making extension services available to rural smallholder farmers, which will help them have access to up-to-date information about newly introduced technologies. This study provides information for policymakers in designing programmes that can help promote adoption of various improved technologies among farmers in Nigeria.