This study broadly examined the profitability of yam production in Oriire Local Government Area of Ogbomoso Oyo state. A Multi Stage Random Sampling Technique was used to select 110 yam farmers in the Local Government Area. Out of the one hundred and ten (110) cassava-based farmers sampled using random sampling technique during 2018/2019 cropping season, only eighty (80) of them provided all the information needed for the data analysis. The study specifically described the socio-economic characteristics of the smallholder yam farmers in the study area; and analyzed the technical efficiency of the smallholder yam farmers in the study area. The study employed Descriptive Statistics (such as frequency counts and percentages) and Inferential Statistical Model (such as Stochastic Frontier Approach). In the preferred model (model 2), the significant variables include: quantity of yam sett, farm size, agrochemicals and labour quantity and were all directly related to the yam output. All the significant variables such as quantity of yam sett, farm size, agrochemicals and labour quantity have positive signs indicating that they greatly impact positively on yam output of smallholder farmer in the study area. For the estimated elasticities of the explanatory variables of the preferred model (Model 2), quantity of yam sett, farm size, agrochemicals and labour quantity were all positive (increasing) to yam output indicating that the use and allocation of these variables was profitable and as such a unit increase in these inputs will eventually result in an increase in the yam output of the smallholder farmers in the study area. For the decile range of the frequency distribution of the TE, 87.50% of the smallholder yam farmers had TE of over 70 % and 11.25% of them had TE ranging between 51 % and 70 %. The predicted yam farm specific technical efficiency (TE) for the smallholder yam farmers’ indices ranged from a minimum of 45.11% to a maximum of 97.50% for the farms, with a mean of 88.43%.            The estimated sigma square ( ) of the smallholder yam farmers is 0.1730 and highly significant at 1% level of significance. The estimated gamma (g) parameter of the smallholder yam farmers is 0.2153 and is not significant at level of significance. The most technically inefficient smallholder yam farmer has an untapped ability to realize a cost-saving of about 53.73%. The Return to Scale shows that the RTS for the smallholder yam farmers is 1.2379 in the study area. Thus, the smallholder yam farmers in the study area are experiencing increasing returns to scale and are operating in the irrational zone of production (stage 1).          

Keywords: Yams, Efficiency, Smallholder, Production