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Analyses of production cost and marketing outlets for sweet potato farmers in Ebonyi State Nigeria
Abstract
Despite the growing importance and known potential of sweet potato as food, animal feed and raw material; there is dearth of records of its production and marketing in Nigeria’s food system. The study sought to investigate production cost and marketing outlets of sweet potato among farmers in Ebonyi State. Primary data were collected from 400 small-scale sweet potato farmers in the area using a multi-stage sampling technique. The instruments used for data collection were interview schedule and focus group discussion (FGD). Data collected through these methods were analysed using descriptive statistics. FGD was analysed by transcribing responses of the discussants. Findings revealed that land preparation (per ha) constitute the highest cost of production among all the cost items with average cost of ₦25,912.30, also, average total cost of producing one hectare of sweet potato in the study area was ₦71,011.24, while the average sale of harvested produce was ₦249,363.87. This implies an average profit of ₦178,352.1 realized. The result shows that sweet potato production was profitable by generating ₦3.5 for every ₦1.00 spent. Village market was found to be the major marketing outlet in the study area. There is need therefore, for farmers to put more effort in enhanced cultivation by utilizing more land for sweet potato production. There also need for land reform policies to make more land available to sweet potato farmers for increased output and profit.
