Beyond The Rains: Impact of Irrigation on Production Efficiency of Small-Scale Rice Farmers in Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Food is essential to the human body's metabolism, yet remains scarce due to climate variability that manifests as floods, rising temperatures, drought, intermittent rainfall, and water stress. This calls for effective resilience strategies, such as irrigation, to enhance food production in Benue State, which is strategic to Nigeria's food self-sufficiency. Against this background, with limited empirical attention on the impact of irrigation on rice production, a common staple food in Benue State, this study was motivated. The survey research design was relied upon with primary data collected through structured questionnaires administered to 150 small-scale rice farmers in the state. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the stochastic frontier model, with the paired-samples t-test as a robustness check. Results indicated a positive but insignificant impact of irrigation (β = 4.44%; p = 0.559) on rice yield in Benue State, as rice irrigated farmers in the state operate at 50.28% level of efficiency, leaving about 49.72% room for improvement when inefficiency variables such as experience, education, and access to credit are improved upon. For robustness check, the paired sample t-test showed a significant negative mean difference between output before and output under irrigation, implying that output under irrigation remains higher than rainfed rice production, but the overall impact of irrigation is insignificantly positive due to technical inefficiency. In line with the results, the study recommended that IFAD and the state government should intensify efforts on extension services and farmers’ training on global best practices to enhance the experience level of farmers and rice yield under irrigation in the state.