Efficiency of bitter kola marketing in Abia State, Nigeria
Abstract
The goal of marketing of agricultural products is to ensure that consumers get satisfaction from the entire process of production, as well as create benefit to the various participants in the marketing channel. This study analyzed the efficiency of bitter kola marketing in Abia State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to identify the main marketing channels of bitter kola marketing in Abia State, determine the marketing efficiency and the factors influencing the marketing efficiency of bitter kola, and ascertain the problem encountered by the marketers of bitter kola in the study area. A multistage sample technique was used in selecting 40 bitter kola marketers. Data were collected through the use of structured questionnaire and interview schedules which were administered to the respondents. Descriptive statistical tools like frequency tables, means and percentages and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression were used to analyze the data. The marketing chain of bitter kola showed that the key actors involved in the marketing of bitter kola were farmers/producers, assemblers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers. The average marketing efficiency of the bitter kola marketers was 1.19%, which showed that bitter kola marketing was relatively efficient as a return of 19kobo was made for every ₦1 spent. This implies the value added by marketing was less than the total marketing cost. The significant variables influencing marketing efficiency were age of the marketer (P= 0.01), years of education (P = 0.01), marketing experience (P = 0.05), selling price (P = 0.01), purchase cost (P = 0.01), marketing costs (P = 0.01), and access to credit (P = 0.01). The major problems faced by the bitter kola marketers were seasonality of the commodity which makes the commodity scarce during the off season, high cost of transport incurred in sourcing the commodity from producers and local markets, lack of storage facilities especially during the harmattan periods causing the nuts cover to peel off. Other problems identified by the markers include weather condition, insufficient capital and daily charges by government at the markets. The study there recommended that policies aimed at reducing cost incurred in the marketing process should be put in place for improved efficiency. Such policies will include among others reduction of transportation cost by constructing rural roads, and provision of credit facilities to alleviate capital constraints.
Keywords: Efficiency, Bitter Kola and Marketing
NAJ supports free online communication and exchange of knowledge as the most effective way of ensuring that the fruits of research and development practice are made widely available. It is therefore committed to open access, which, for authors, enables the widest possible dissemination of their findings and, for readers, increases their ability to discover pertinent information. The Journal adopts and uses the CC: BY license and is open access. This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the Journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Copyright for articles published in this Journal is retained by the Journal.