Marketing efficiency of groundnut (Arachis Hypogaea) in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analyzed the marketing efficiency of groundnut in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected using well-structured questionnaire. A multi-stage sampling procedure involving stratified, purposive and simple random sampling was used to select 174 groundnut marketers. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The results of the study showed that the respondents were in their active productive age with average of 42 years having 9 years of marketing experience years. Annual income of the marketers was 35.5% ranging between N100000-300,000 with majority (72.4%) having no access to credit while 55.2% were members of cooperatives. Results of the Gini coefficient (0.74) indicated that there were many sellers and buyers who had free entry and exit in and out of the groundnut marketing business which indicated a tilt towards a pure competitive market structure. The gross margin was 2016.62 per 100kg of groundnut marketed in the study area. This shows that the respondents made a profit of 2016.61 from every 100kg of groundnut sold, implying that groundnut marketing is a profitable business in Nasarawa State, However, further studies on the activities of middlemen on the marketing efficiency should be evaluated .