Nneji Ifeyinwa Umeokeke, Victor Olusegun Okoruwa and Temitayo Adenike Adeyemo
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of e-wallet on farmer’s welfare in Nigeria.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of e-wallet on farmer’s welfare in Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data were used to collect information on 81 users and 123 non-users of e-wallet system. Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) analysis was used to profile farmer’s poverty status, while propensity score matching (PSM) was used to assess the impact of e-wallet on welfare using per capita expenditure as its proxy.
Findings
The FGT analysis shows that poverty incidence, depth, and severity were found to be higher among non-users of e-wallet than its users. The PSM analysis showed that e-wallet had a positive impact on welfare; Rosenbaum sensitivity analysis revealed that the findings are sensitive to hidden bias due to unobserved characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
The relevance of matching method depends on data availability for the specific policy problem. Hence, the study is limited to the use of the PSM because of the limitation of household data availability to only a sample of farmers in Oyo State.
Originality/value
This paper examines the impact of the new system of input distribution (e-wallet) on farmer’s welfare.
Details
Keywords
Busayo Bidemi Adeyemi, Victor Olusegun Okoruwa and Adesola Ikudaisi
The purpose of this paper is to assess the efficiency of rice millers and determine factors influencing cost efficiency in Southwest Nigeria using the cost route approach.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the efficiency of rice millers and determine factors influencing cost efficiency in Southwest Nigeria using the cost route approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses cost efficiency of rice millers using primary data collected from 62 respondents through a structured questionnaire. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed for this purpose. The profile of rice millers and mills were derived using the descriptive analysis. Cost efficiency of the millers was obtained using the quadratic cost function analysis, and Tobit regression was used to determine factors that influence cost efficiency.
Findings
The results showed that cost efficiency indexes range from 1 to 57 percent averaging at 20.2 percent. Large rice mills were found to be most efficient with the mean cost efficiency of 25 percent. Paddy, transport and energy costs contributed positively and significantly (p=0.05 and p=0.01) to cost efficiency. Milling capacity and machine age increase cost efficiency while the distance to purchase paddy and quantity of diesel used reduces cost efficiency.
Social implications
The paper shows that there is enough potential for rice millers to improve their cost efficiency based on the available technology. This has a direct implication on the economy through the increased domestic production and processing of rice to meet the increasing demand for locally produced rice.
Originality/value
The paper attempts to bridge the gap in the literature of cost efficiency among rice millers in Nigeria, and specifically in the application of the normalized quadratic cost function in estimating cost efficiency in the rice milling sector in Nigeria.