Structure and Performance of Cowpea Marketing in Biu Local Government Area of Borno State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study analyzed the structure and performance of cowpea marketing in Biu Local Government Area, Borno State. The specific objectives were to: describe the socioeconomic characteristics of cowpea marketers; determine the structure of cowpea marketing; analyze the performance of the marketing and identify problems associated with marketing of cowpea. Five cowpea markets were selected for the study namely: Biu, Miringha, Mandaragrau, Mandafuma and Buratai. Twenty respondents were randomly selected from each of the 5 markets giving a total of 100 respondents. Primary data and secondary information were used for the study and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Gini Coefficient and marketing margin. The findings of the study indicated that majority (62%) of the respondents were males, in the active age group of 31-50 years. The educational level of the respondents showed that 85% had various form of education and 96% were married. The Gini Coefficient for cowpea market participants showed an unequal distribution in the income generated with Gini Coefficient of 0.39009. The cowpea marketing margins were 27.3%, 30.8% and 28.4% for retailers, wholesalers and the marketers that does both wholesale and retail respectively. Major problems associated with cowpea marketing in the study area are insecurity (94%), inadequate storage facilities (93%), insect pest infestation (91%) and high cost of transportation (78%). The study concluded that there is a relatively low concentration in cowpea market in the study area. The high level of market concentration is an indication of presence of perfectly competitive structure in the cowpea market. The study recommended that government and non-governmental agencies should empower the marketers through the provision of micro credit facilities to encourage more people to go into cowpea marketing.