*2.1.3 Household size*

Household size had a positive and significant effect on technical efficiency of tomato production in Oyo state [50]. This indicates that efficiency increases with increase in household size. Increase in household size improved tomato production in Benue and Adamawa States [11, 46]. Households with large family size may serve as a readily available source of labor. Thus, it can be inferred that household members may be a ready source of labor in farming activities.

### *2.1.4 Extension contact*

Increase in extension contact increases the output from tomato production [48]. This is expected as extension agents have been known for their role in smallholder

production. According to a study in Cameroon on tomato production, the nearer a farmer is to an extension agent, the higher will be his technical efficiency [39]. The extension provides latest information on production techniques, provision of information on improved seeds, and provision of agronomic knowledge. The farmer can avail himself of all the above to boast his productivity and technical efficiency.

#### *2.1.5 Farm size*

An increase in the hectares of farm land put into tomato production will lead to an increase in the output of tomato [10, 48]. Increase in farm size will lead to increased output of tomato and that land is a very important factor in tomato production [11, 31, 46, 51]. Additionally, in Cameroon, increase in area put into tomato production leads to increase in yield of the commodity [39]. Thus, increase in area of land put into tomato production may lead to increase in output of tomato.

### *2.1.6 Labor*

Increase in the quantity of labor had been found to increase the output of tomato in Benue and Kano State, Nigeria [10, 48]. Furthermore, increase in the labor lead to improvement in tomato output in Kaduna and Kwara states [31, 45]. Thus, adequate number of labor at the appropriate time may lead to increase in the output of tomato. Although care must be taken not to over use labor, thus optimum level must be adhered to in order not to lead to reduction in the returns due to overutilization of the input.

#### *2.1.7 Seed quantity*

A unit increases in the level of seed lead to increase in tomato output [31]. Increase in seed quantity was found to lead to increase in tomato output [10, 11, 22, 31, 51]. Increase in quantity of seed positively influences tomato output in Cameroon [39]. A 1% increase in seed under tomato production will raise the output of tomato production; thus, seed is a very important factor of production [46].

### *2.1.8 Chemical (such as fertilizer and insecticides)*

An increase in the level of chemical and organic fertilizer will lead to increase in tomato output [31]. Increase in pesticides use will lead to increased output of tomato [11]. Increase in the quantity of herbicide and fertilizer lead to increase in tomato output [51].

Increase in the quantity of fertilizer lead to improvement in tomato output [10, 11, 31] This is expected because nonfertile soil will not support good growth and development of the commodity. It is very important to note that optimum level of the above resources must be utilized. This is very important in relation to herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizer because when they are overused, they may have adverse effect on the health of the consumers.

#### **2.2 Factors affecting efficiency of pepper production**

#### *2.2.1 Age*

Increase in age of farmers increases technical inefficiency indicating that older farmers are less efficient in pepper production [20, 52]. This may be due to the fact that older farmers may not be agile to search for new information that may lead to

improvement in pepper production. Older farmers were also found to be technically inefficient in pepper production in Ethiopia [53]. Additionally, increase in the number of years of farmer's experience reduces technical inefficiency [52, 54]. This may indicate that experience gathered over time in the production of the commodity may be put into use to improve practices in the production. This showed that there are various opinions on the effect of age on technical efficiency of pepper farmers.
