Resource-Use Efficiency of Male and Female Fish Farmers in Maiduguri: A Comparative Analysis

This paper examined the resource-use efficiency of fish farmers in Maiduguri metropolis, Borno state, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the socio-economic characteristics of fish farmers, analyze the profitability of fish farming, estimate the production function of fish farmers, determine the resource-use efficiency of fish farmers, and investigate problems militating against fish farming in the study area. Respondents for the study were chosen first by a purposive selection of male and female fish farmers to form the sampling frame. From the listof male and female farmers 16 each were selected proportionately at random to form 32 respondents for the study. The data used were derived from primary sources by means of structured questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistical tools used were frequency distributions and percentages while inferential tools comprised net farm income analysis, Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analysis and efficiency ratio. The result revealed that majority of the male and female farmers were aged between 31and 40 years. Most of the farmers have tertiary education and fish farming experience of between 1 and 5 years. Most of the respondents were married and have household sizes of between 7 and 9 persons in a family. Fish farming was found to be profitable with average profit per kilogram of ₦359.23 and ₦306.10 for male and female farmers respectively. Significant factors that determine fish production in the study area were feed, number of fingerlings and labour. These resources were however found to be over utilized by both male and female farmers. Major problems affecting fish farmers were high cost of fish feeds, inadequate improved fingerlings and lack of credit facilities. The study concluded that fish farming is a profitable venture and production resources were not efficiently utilized. There is evidence also that fish enterprises suffer some production constraints. It is therefore, recommended that efficiency could be attained if resources that were excessively used are reduced and cheap sources of good production resources are exploited.