Analyzing the financial viability and technical efficiency of aquaculture farming in Delta State, Nigeria: Lessons from cluster operations

This study delved into the comprehensive analysis of aquaculture farming in Delta State, specifically focusing on the financial viability and technical efficiency of cluster operations. As aquaculture plays a crucial in meeting global seafood demands, understanding the dynamics at the regional level become imperative. The study employed a multifaceted approach to assess the financial viability of aquaculture farming, technical efficiency of aquaculture production. By adopting a cluster based perspective, the research aims to unravel the intricacies of collaborative farming operations, identifying synergies that contribute to enhanced financial outcome. Insights garnered from this financial evaluation can provide stakeholders with strategic guidance for sustainable economic practices within the aquaculture sector. The research draws on a diverse set of data source, including financial records, production metrics, focus group discussions and questionnaire distributions. Statistical tools and econometric models are applied to quantify the relationships between various variables, providing a clear understanding of the factors influencing technical efficiency and financial Findings from this study showed that the price of labour, price of fish feeds and price of medicine had a significant effect on efficiency of aqua farming with a coefficient of 0.5468**,-0.7862**, -0.8896** respectively. The result of the technical efficiency , (25.0%) falls within the 0.71 - 0.8 range, indicating a high level of technical efficiency of aqua farmers. This is followed by those in the 0.31 - 0.4 and 0.51 - 0.6 ranges, each with 11.2% of farmers. In contrast. The result of the BCR showed a significant variation in profitability highlights of aqua farming operations in the study area are more financially rewarding, with a net return on investment (ROI) of 0.58. However, the technical efficiencies and productivities of aqua farmers in clusters were significantly high regardless of how biases were corrected, implying that participation in cluster group is positively related to increases in aqua farmers output.