Agricultural and Bionutritional Research | October 2015 | Volume 1 | Issue 1 | Pages 1-19 1 Application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in determining GHG emission and carbon sequestration in small-scale maize production in Niger State, Nigeria Mohammed S. Sadiq 1 *, Invinder P. Singh 2 , Aminu Suleiman 3 , Musa A. Isah 4 , Sufiyanu M. Umar 5 , Abubakar M. Maude 6 , Abdullahi T. Lawal 6 and Halima Sallawu 7 1 Research Scholar, Department of Agricultural Economics, SKRAU, Bikaner, India 2 Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, SKRAU, Bikaner, India 3 Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria 4 Research Scholar, Department of Agricultural Economics, UAS, Dharwad, India 5 Research Scholar, Department of Agricultural Economics, PJSTSU, Hyderabad, India 6 Research Scholar, Department of Agricultural Economics, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria 7 Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria ABSTRACT This research empirically estimates potential energy utilization and GHG emission sequestration in small- scale maize production in Niger State, Nigeria using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Data for the study were obtained from Kuta agricultural zone in Niger State; 120 maize farmers were randomly selected through multi-stage sampling technique, and data collected with the aid of pre-tested questionnaire coupled with interview schedule. Energy efficiency of maize farmers was studied and degrees of overall technical efficiency (CCR), pure technical efficiency (BCC) and scale efficiency (SE) were determined using a neoclassical non-parametric model called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Additionally, wasteful uses of energy by inefficient DMUs (farms) were examined, and energy saving of different sources estimated. Furthermore, the effect of energy optimization on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission was investigated and the total amount of GHG emission of efficient DMUs (farms) was compared with inefficient DMUs. Results revealed that approximately 9.2% of the farmers were technically efficient with an estimated mean TE of 0.68. Furthermore, when BCC model was assumed, 24 farmers (DMUs) were identified to be locally efficient (20%), with mean PTE of 0.78. From the results, it was inferred that 32% (768.89MJ ha -1 ) of overall input energies can be saved if the performance of inefficient DMUs (farms) rose to a high level. Finally, by energy optimization the total GHG emission can be reduced to an estimated value of 394.91 kg CO2eq. Citation: Sadiq MS, Singh IP, Suleiman A, Isah MA, Umar SM, Maude AM, Lawal AT and Sallawu H (2015). Application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to determine GHG emission and carbon sequestration in small-scale maize production in Niger State, Nigeria. Agricultural and Bionutritional Research 1(1): 1-19. Received October 14, 2015; Accepted October 24, 2015; Published November 4, 2015. Copyright: © 2015 Sadiq et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. ABR is a journal publication of BRSF. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: sadiqsanusi30@gmail.com Keywords: DEA, Technical Efficiency, GHG Emission, Maize, Small-scale, Nigeria. 1. INTRODUCTION Sustainable agricultural systems rely on lower inputs of energy and chemical to achieve long- term productivity and environmental compatibility. Sadiq and Isah [10] argued that better and more informed management, and specifically management of ecological interactions and processes, are required to replace high inputs in sustainable systems. High-input energy has attracted criticism for overproduction [11-14], lack of economic stability, and environmental degradation [10]. Attention to these issues has been focused on both temperate and tropical agro-ecosystems. Dialogue, conferences, symposiums, and publications generated recently strongly suggest that agriculture is undergoing a rapid transition or even revolution. During the twenties in US and Europe, agriculture changed from farming systems using relatively low amounts of energy and chemicals to those requiring high inputs of Agricultural and Bionutritional Research Open Access freely available online ISSN: 2476-7913 Biosciences Research Support Foundation https://www.brsfoundation.org/abr Research Article|