There has been a remarkable reduction in the contribution of groundnut to Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings since the discovery of petroleum resources. There is need to re -position this valuable crop to assume its rightful position in the nation’s economy. Thus, this study assessed the profitability of groundnut production and level of technical and allocative efficiencies of the farmers using Benue State as a case study. Multi -stage sampling technique, which involves purposive selection of two Local Government Areas (Makurdi and Ogbadigbo) and subsequent random selection of groundnut farmers from the selected three communities was adopted in collecting cross -sectional data from 270 groundnut farmers using structured questionnaire and oral interview. Descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis and Stochastic Frontier Model were used to analyse the data. The study found that the mean gross margin per hectare of groundnut was N 1,897.86 per month while the profitability test shows that it is profitable (t= 6.87; P ≤ 0.01). However, the key variables that influence profitability are hired labour, cost of seed, agrochemical and cost of fertilizer. Meanwhile, the mean technical efficiency estimate of groundnut farmers in the study area was found to be as low as 4%. This could be attributed to high demand for labour, land and agrochemicals which are the critical factors that play a significant role in groundnut production. The socio- economic factors that affect groundnut production in the study area include farmers’ age, household size and annual income. Similarly, an average farmer spent about 28% above the minimum frontier cost. Furthermore, the elasticity of cost of production with respect to cost of hired labour and cost of seed was found to be relatively high indicating their importance in groundnut production. More land should be put into groundnut production and farmers should be given essential agricultural inputs that will enhance the productivity of this cash crop. The study further recommends the development and dissemination of simple machines that can facilitate the stages involved in the production of groundnut.

Sustainable food production is not negotiable if food security is to be achieved. Recent statistics show increasing food insecurity issues in Nigeria despite government policy and programmes in the agricultural sector. The study specifically described agriculture growth trend under three policy regimes and analysed the effects of agricultural sector policy on food security in Nigeria between 1960 and 2020. Secondary data on agricultural output, gross deficit financing, labour employed in the agricultural sector, land, and population were obtained from World Development Indicators (WDI) of the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics (FAOSTAT), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The data were analysed using trend analysis and Dummy Variable Regression (DVR) model. The Instantaneous Growth Rate (IGR) and compound growth rate (CGR) were respectively 3 percent and 7.2 percent in 1960 – 1969, 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent in 1970 – 1985, and 3.4 percent and 8.1 percent in 1986 – 2020; the country experienced stagnated pattern of growth in the agriculture sector within the oil boom and policy reconstruction period with an instantaneous and compound growth rate of 0.5 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively. An IGR and CGR of 3.4 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively were recorded during the policy stabilization era with an accelerating growth pattern. The intercept of agricultural output and per capita food production of the period with complete agricultural policy document differs from the period with no policy document by 36.8 percent and 39.8 percent, respectively, revealing an increase in the value of agricultural output and per capita food production in the period with a national policy document. The study concludes that availability of agricultural sector policy document directly impacts food security. The post-estimation tests on the models confirmed that policy implications emanating from this study are adoptable to improve food security in Nigeria through the agricultural sector policy. Proper and efficient policy mix to support agricultural production was recommended. Key words: Agricultural policy, Agricultural output, Acceleration, Dummy Variable Regression (DVR), Food security, Sustainability, Nigeria