Oladimeji, Y. U., Sani, A. A., Hassan, A. A. and Yakubu, A.

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This study examined efficiency and profitability of sweet potato production in north central and northwestern 

Nigeria as a potential for enhancing food security. Primary sources of the data were gathered by field surveys in 

2016/2017 farming season through questionnaire and interview. Amultistage sampling procedure was used to select 

200 respondents comprising 100 farmers each from kwara and katsina states. Data collected were analyzed using 

descriptive statistics, net farm income and stochastic frontier functions. The results revealed that area devoted to 

sweet potato farming, level of education, access to credit, and farming experience were found to be higher in kwara 

state. However, household size, family labour involvement in farming and quantity of fertilizer used per ha was 

found to be higher in katsina state compared to kwara state. Sweet potato production was profitable in both states 

with an average return of ₦2.35and ₦1.66on every ₦ 1 invested in kwara and katsina states respectively. The 

results of the stochastic frontier model showed that there are significant differences in the technical and allocative 

efficiency of both kwara and katsina sweet potato farmers, and the pooled data in the study area. The pooled 

technical efficiency index of the farmers is directly proportional to level of education and years of sweet potato 

production. This suggests that farmers with more years of experience and education are likely to have higher yields 

whichare sine quo non to food accessibility and affordability among households. Farmers are encouraged to 

increase the hectarage of sweet potato production to increase profit. The sustainable increased in output could be 

achieved if farmers adopt a new techniques and improved their technical efficiency through training and workshops 

on input acquisition, inputs combinations and utilization as ample opportunity still exist to move closer to frontier. 

Keywords: Efficiency, food security, profit, sustainable, sweet potato