ABSTRACT
The study had the main objective of analyzing the production efficiency and poverty status of growth enhancement support scheme of smallholder maize farmers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 200 randomly selected smallholder GES beneficiary maize farmers in the six Area Councils of the FCT. Descriptive statistics, stochastic frontier model, farm budgeting and weighted poverty index were used in analyzing the data. Findings from the study showed that the mean age of maize farmers was 47 years and the mean farm size of 1.5 hectares was cultivated by an average household size of 8 persons. Maximum likelihood estimates of the stochastic frontier function of maize showed that variables such as farming experience, farm size, extension contact and membership of farmer group were found to be the common sources of technical inefficiency among maize farmers. Mean technical efficiency was estimated at 91.4%. Major sources of allocative inefficiency were household size, farming experience, educational level, farm size and membership of farmer-based organization. Mean allocative efficiency score was 84.4% while that of economic efficiency was 78.6%. Net farm income realized by the maize farmers per hectare was ₦104,376 indicating that the every ₦1.00 invested in maize production returned a profit of ₦1.99. Estimated poverty line for maize farmers in the study area was ₦13,194.84 and the mean adult equivalent household expenditure was estimated to be N22,267.41. Poverty incidence was computed to be 30% while the poverty gap index (PGI) was 36%. In conclusion, there was room for maize farmers to increase their production efficiency to attain the frontier optimum. Also, maize production was profitable and could help reduce poverty among farmers. It was recommended that more young people be supported to acquire education at low-cost through such facilities as tuition-free and scholarship opportunities, subsidized inputs, soft loans and access to market information services in order to enhance their production efficiency and eventually reduce poverty among them
