Keywords
efficiency
cowpea
wholesalers
retailers and Northern Taraba
How to Cite
Abstract
The study examined factors affecting marketing margin and efficiency of yam in Northern Tararba
state. The specific objectives were to ascertain the marketing margin and efficiency of cowpea
wholesalers and retailers in the area and ascertain factors affecting cowpea marketing in the area.
Primary data were collected using structured questionnaire administered to randomly selected
139 cowpea marketers. Descriptive statistics, marketing margin analysis, and logit regression
analysis were used to analyze the data collected. The results revealed that 77.6% and 74.4% of
the wholesale and retail cowpea marketers were males respectively. Majority of them fell within
the age group of 38 - 47 years. 63.3% and 65.6% of the wholesale and retail cowpea marketers
were married respectively. About 83.7% and 88.9% of these categories of cowpea marketers had
formal education respectively. Majority of wholesalers (83.7%) and retailers (76.7%) did not
belong to any cooperative organization. The results also revealed that majority of wholesalers
(79.59 %) and retailers (74.44%) had no access to credit. Also, 42.9% and 58.9% of both
categories of cowpea marketers had 6-10 years’ experience in cowpea trading. The net marketing
margin for wholesalers was N7,400.00 while that of retailers was N1,300.00. The marketing
efficiency index was N0.1 and N0.2 respectively. The regression result revealed that gender (X1),
marketing experience (X4), educational level(X5), transport cost (X6), labour costs (X7),
membership of cooperative (X8), access to credit (X9) and poor infrastructure (X10)were significant
at 1%, 5% and 10% level of probability as they constitute major determinants of cowpea marketing
margin and efficiency in the area. It was concluded that the sampled marketers were inefficient
and transportation cost affect market efficiency. It is recommended that the government should
make effort addressing transportation problems by regular maintenance of roads and provision of
alternative means of transportation (such as rail), as this would reduce cost incurred in moving
the farm produce.
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