Stochastic frontier analysis of catfish (Clarias gariepinus) aquaculture agribusiness for sustainable fisheries development: Evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

Technical efficiency assessment and enhancement is critical to sustainable fisheries development in Nigeria. This study examines stochastic frontier of catfish aquaculture agribusiness for sustainable fisheries development. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select 110 catfish farmers in areas with high density catfish farms. Primary data were collected directly from catfish farmers using structured questionnaire. The analytical tools used were descriptive statistics, net farm income, stochastic frontier production function (SPF) and t-statistics. The result shows that most of the catfish farmers were young people within the productive age of 40-49 years. Catfish farmers had obtained various levels of formal education. Finding shows that feeds cost was the highest variable cost (72.75%). Feed had a positive and significant relationship (P<0.05) with catfish output. Mean technical efficiency is 53.49%. The estimated variance (δ2s=0.2125) is statistically significant (P<0.05), indicating that profit inefficiency is highly significant among catfish farmers. Estimated Gamma (γ) value of 0.26 implies that 26% of the total variation in catfish profit efficiency is due to the joint effect of technical inefficiency factors. The most significant efficiency factors are fish feed and pond size. The age and educational status of farmers are the most important determining factors of inefficiency in catfish production system. Lack of finance was the most serious constraint faced by catfish farmers. The study recommended that catfish farmers should form cooperative unions to facilitate their access to cooperative funding.