Resource Use Efficiency of Smallholder Producers Cooperative in Nigeria

Abstract The objective of this study is to analyse efficiency in resource use by cooperative producers with specialization in vegetable production and estimate the costs and return to such enterprises under cooperative conditions. Marginal physical product (MPP), marginal value product (MVP), and marginal factor costs (MFC) in addition to budgetary analysis were utilised to analyse the primary data collected through the questionnaire. The enterprise efficiency level is 0.06, the benefit-cost ratio is 1.06 while the expense structure ratio 0.37. The MVP results showed that all the resources used in production are under-utilized suggesting inefficiency of resource use by the cooperative producers. The result can be of advantage to producers if an appropriate understanding of cooperative principles is put into perspective in production-related decisions. Improvement of the level of utilization of input resources should be of interest to the government and related stakeholders.