Backyard Farming: A Panacea for Food Security in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper looks at the profitability, productivity and technical efficiency of backyard farming in Ondo State, Nigeria for its policy implications. The study was carried out in two local government areas of Ondo State, Nigeria. Data were obtained from primary sources using a set of structured questionnaire assisted with interview schedule. The multistage sampling technique was used. Data were analyzed using: descriptive statistics, net profit analysis and the stochastic frontier production function. The study revealed that backyard farming was profitable and improved consumption of essential nutrients at the family level and that; young and well educated people who took farming as secondary occupation were involved in backyard farming in the study area. The backyard farmers were relatively technically efficient with about 72 percent of them having Technical Efficiency (TE) above the mean TE of 0.875 for the study area. The study observed that educational level of the farmers, farming experience and location of farms led to decrease in TE. The TE of the backyard farmers would improve if more land is made available for this group of young farmers at locations quite close to their residential compounds and organizing training in basic farming operations for some well educated government workers who may invariably be interested in farming later in life and thus backyard farming would be a driving force in solving food security issue in Nigeria.