Analysis of Rural Transportation of Agricultural Produce in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State Nigeria

Abstract

This research analyzed rural-urban transportation on agricultural produce in Ijebu north local government area of Ogun State. A well-designed questionnaire, personal observation and descriptive and inferential statistics were employed. The respondents consist of (378) of the total population, while simple random technique was used to select 113 (30%) farmers and 95 (25%) produce transporters were equally selected systematically, 170 (45%) produce traders were purposively selected to gather information on socio-economic, agricultural produce, transportation of produce and challenges of moving agricultural produce. Findings show that combination of food crops, cash crops, tubers, poultry, fruits, vegetables and poultry product dominate Ijebu North Local area in which farmers combined cultivation of those crops. The respondent use the following means of transportation in the study area i.e. walking, motor bike, bus, pick-up van and car. Roads in the study area are in a deplorable condition, the type of vehicle used by farmers and traders depend on the volume of the agricultural produce, while petrol, maintenances, ticketing and extortion are the operating cost of vehicle in the movement of produce by the transporters. The research recommends among others things the provision of good storage facility, massive road rehabilitation, provision of modern public transport, empowering agricultural agency to complement the existing effort and extension of rail services towards enhancing transportation of agricultural produce in Ijebu North Local Government area.