Production Efficiencies of the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation Beneficiaries A Case Study of Livestock Farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Livestock farmers are faced with various risks which is  because agriculture largely depends on nature. In solving this the Federal Government of Nigerian established the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation(NAIC). The objectives are to compare the technical efficiency and output of the beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of NAIC, determine the levels of production efficiency of the beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, identify the determinants of production efficiency of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries and identify the constraints encountered by the beneficiaries in the study area. The research was carried out in Kwara state, Nigeria. The target population was the livestock farmers in Kwara state. A random sampling technique was used to select 160 farmers. Eighty farmers were selected based on the beneficiaries list obtained from NAIC head office in the state and eighty non-beneficiaries were selected using snowball sampling technique. The research instrument used was questionnaire. The analytical tools employed were descriptive statistics, t-test and stochastic frontier model. The results showed that the mean technical efficiency of the beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries were 0.87 and 0.54 respectively. This shows that the beneficiaries were more efficient than non-beneficiaries which implies that their involvement in insurance were of great benefits. The major risks encountered by majority of the livestock farmers are drought, variation in yield, diseases and pests. The constraints encountered include; fear that their claims may not be paid, attitude of NAIC, strict insurance policy. Therefore, it is recommended that insurance workforce should develop strategies like awareness creation that will encourage more participation in the insurance program among farming households.