The RURAL ROAD AND MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE: A CASE STUDY OF KAJOLA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Cornelius Idowu Alarima,Joseph Mubo Awotunde,Yetunde Fashola,Olusola Ayansina,Oluwakemi Enitan Fapojuwo,Adetayo Kazeem Aromolaran,Scholastica Ngozi Atata,Fadilat Ayinde

doi:10.33003/fjs-2020-0402-182

Cornelius Idowu Alarima, Joseph Mubo Awotunde + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.33003/fjs-2020-0402-182

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Abstract

The transport system is fundamental to economic and social development of rural communities. The study examined the impact of road transportation system on the marketing of agricultural produce in Kajola local government area of Oyo state. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select one hundred and sixty (166) rural farmers for the study. Primary data were collected with the use of a pre-tested questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed that 72.7% of the respondents were male, 69.5% were married with a mean age of 40.83years. Also, 91.4%, 89.8%, 87.5%, 79.7% and 76.6%, of the respondents produced maize, tomatoes, pepper, yam and cassava respectively while 21.9% produced cucumber. Furthermore, 60.2% of the farmers move their produce from the farm to the market through feeder roads using motorcycles due to the bad state of the roads. Respondents revealed that bad road networks bring about reduced quantity of farm produce leading to higher price. The result of the correlation analysis revealed that road transportation mode is significantly (p<0.05) related (r = 0.317) to the marketing of agricultural produce. The study recommends the renovation of existing roads and construction of more rural feeder roads to link farmlands to the markets.

Highlights

Transportation is critical to the development of rural communities both in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors due to the role it plays on production processes in these areas
The role of transport is very crucial and is a phase in the production process which is not complete until the commodity is in the hands of the final consumers Ajiboye and Afolayan (2009) Transportation influences the cost of commodity and the purchasing power of the consumers as it relates to the cost of production
Primary data were collected on the farmers’ socio-economic characteristics, types of agricultural produce cultivated by the farmers, the means of transporting agricultural produce, the types and nature of roads in the study area and farmers’ perception of transportation on the marketing of agricultural produce with the use of a pre-tested interview guide administered during the farming season

Summary

Introduction

Transportation is critical to the development of rural communities both in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors due to the role it plays on production processes in these areas. The poor road network is one of the mostly affected infrastructural facility militating against agricultural development in the local government area. This increases the cost of production because the farmers transport their produce out of the local government area at exorbitant rates.

Results

Conclusion