Productivity and food security status of agroforestry farming households in Oyo State, Nigeria

This study examined the contribution of agroforestry practices to crop productivity and household food security among farming households in Oyo State, Nigeria. Specifically, it assessed the determinants of technical efficiency and the effect of different agroforestry systems on food security outcomes. Data were collected from 346 agroforestry farming households through a multi-stage (four-stage) sampling technique across four agricultural zones of the state. The Cobb–Douglas stochastic frontier production model was employed to estimate farmers’ technical efficiency, defined as the ability of a farmer to produce maximum output from a given set of inputs using the best available technology, while the Tobit model was used to analyze the determinants of food security status. Results revealed that among the identified agroforestry systems, agrisilvicultural (integration of crops and trees such as Mangifera indica, Anacardium occidentale, and Gliricidia sepium) and agrosilvopastoral (combination of trees, crops, and livestock) systems were statistically significant in influencing farm-level productivity (p < 0.001; coefficient = 0.798) and food security (p < 0.10; coefficient = 0.0045), respectively. This implies that these systems significantly enhanced crop productivity per unit area and improved household food access and stability. The study concludes that promoting diverse agroforestry systems can increase agricultural productivity and strengthen household food security in Nigeria.