Economic analysis of farm-gate plantain marketing in Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper is on the economic analysis of farm gate plantain marketing in Abia state, Nigeria. The study adopted a multi-stage random sampling technique. However, three local government areas of Bende, Ikwuano and Isiukwuato were purposively selected based on the fact that they are the major producers of plantain in the state. Four communities were then selected from the 3 LGAs. This gave a total of 12 communities. The next stage was the selection of 5 farm families from each of the 12 communities, giving a total of 60 respondents. For the selection of the middlemen and consumers, three urban local government areas of Umuahia North, Umuahia South and Aba North were selected purposively. 10 wholesalers, retailers and consumers were also randomly selected from these urban areas. This gave a total of 90 respondents. In all, 150 respondents were used for the study. Data were obtained by the use of questionnaire and were later analyzed using marketing margin and multiple regression. The result of the analysis showed that the margin for retailers were more than those of the producers and wholesalers. Output price was found to be positive and significant in determining profitability. Labour and fertilizer had negative relationship with profitability. It was recommended that costs of inputs be reduced as well as making information accessible to the producers.