Agricultural intensification in West Africa is in its early stages and several hypotheses have been postulated about its evolution and possible pathways. In addition, farm efficiency may vary across farms and other socio-economic domains, opening opportunities to improve efficiency and productivity through reallocation of current resources and introducing new technologies that target farmers. A survey was conducted among 559 households in 8 villages, 4 each in the northern Guinea savannah (NGS) and Sudan savannah (SS) zones of northern Nigeria, each representing a combination of high or low population density and high or low market access, to test these hypotheses.