Abstract

The study evaluated the return to scale efficiencies of the Nigerian Credit Institutions finance on the agricultural sector with the aid of data envelopment analysis (DEA). The empirical analysis was made of the credit institutions financial statistics which were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin (various issues), the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Annual Report and Statement of Accounts (various issues) and various publications and interactions with Bank of Agriculture (BOA). Findings from the study indicated that the Deposit Money Banks operations are technically efficient in some years, for instance 1992 and 1994, the Bank of Agriculture and the Microfinance Banks activities also suggested technical efficiency in their operations in 1999 and 2002; and 1997 and 1998, respectively. The study concludes by recommending that the credit institutions should improve on their operations as attaining technical efficiency would ensure optimization of inputs deployed to the agricultural sector.