Maize is a main staple food in Nigeria, high productivity and efficiency in its production are critical to food security and poverty alleviation in the country. Thus, this paper estimates cropping intensification, the levels of technical efficiency of 252 maize–based farming households in southern-guinea savannah (SGS) of Nigeria and provides an empirical analysis of the determinants of technical inefficiency. Results show that the crop production intensity scores among the farming households ranged between 5.5 and 38.50 with a mean score of 23.13. Technical efficiencies of smallholder maize-based farming households ranged from 0.183 to 0.926 with a mean of 0.478. This result indicated the possibility of improving the efficiency of the sampled farming households by 51.3% with the existing resources and technology. The result of the inefficiency model shows that cropping intensification, farming experience and household size are the significant variables determining technical efficiency of maize-based households. Favourable inputs and output prices of agricultural produce as well as other policies that could facilitate households’ access to agricultural inputs are hereby suggested. Policies aimed at reducing household size should also be vigorously pursued.