CONTRIBUTIONS OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS TO ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF CASSAVA FARMERS IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

The study examined contributions of microfinance institutions to economic efficiency of cassava farmers in Abia state, Nigeria. A multistage random sampling technique was adopted in collecting cross sectional data on a sample size of 240 respondents (120 MFI beneficiaries and 120 non beneficiaries). Primary Data was collected by administering questionnaire on cassava farmers. The result showed that economic efficiency of MFI beneficiaries was influenced by wage rate, price of fertilizer and adjusted Y (output), while wage rate, price of fertilizer and price of cassava cutting s are variables that influenced economic efficiency of non beneficiaries. The t ? test analysis confirmed that MFI beneficiaries had higher economic efficiency advantage compared with non beneficiaries. It is recommended that government agricultural policy should take positive steps to reduce interest rate to encourage MFI efforts in providing the necessary platform to encourage higher efficiency in cassava production in Abia state, Nigeria.