AKSU Journal of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development
ISSN(Online): 2736-0040 ISSN(Print): 2695-1975
ISSN(Online): 2736-0040 ISSN(Print): 2695-1975
Abstract
One of the priceless productivity gains back ridden by consistent improvement in any productive system is
efficiency and empirical work has proven it to be higher for contract farmers than their contemporaries
(non contract). Could this be the case in contract fishing? This paper employed the stochastic frontier
production function to analyse the technical efficiency of 91 randomly selected contract fishers in
comparison to 80 non-contracts and 61 former–contracts artisanal fishermen in Akwa Ibom State,
Nigeria. Technical efficiency shows that 96.7% of the contracted fishers were 90% efficient while 3.3%
were at least 80% efficient compared to former and non contract fishers at 60.66% and 16.39% and,
26.25% and 52.50% respectively. The minimum efficiency for contract, former and non contract fishers
was 0.82, 0.53 and 0.71; the maximum efficiency was 0.99 for all and the mean 0.98, 0.88 and 0.86
respectively. The findings of the study have implications for increased fish production in the study area in
that attainment of mean efficiency of 98%, 88% and 86% mean that all categories of fishers still have
room to increase their efficiency to the optimum (100%). This will require addressing those factors that
constrained technical efficiency in the study area.