Structural Mapping of Beans (Cowpea) Marketers in Imo State, Nigeria

Osuji MN*

Received:July 09, 2019;   Published:July 18, 2019

DOI: 10.32474/SJFN.2018.01.000130

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Abstract

The study is on structural Mapping of beans (cowpea) marketers in Imo state, Nigeria. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were employed to select twenty- four (24) wholesalers and forty-two (42) retailers. Descriptive statistics, marketing margin analytical technique and Gini coefficient analytical technique were used to analyze the data collected. Results showed that majority of the beans traders were males, within the age range of 31-40 years, literate, married and have acquired marketing experience which ranges from 11-20 years. Beans’ marketing in the study area has two main channels, the major channel starts with the producers (beans farmer) to rural assembler, wholesalers, retailers and final consumer. The Gini coefficients for wholesalers and retailers were 0.663 and 0.656 respectively indicating inequality in the distribution of the traders. This also shows that the market structure for beans in the study area is imperfectly competitive.

Keywords: Structural; Organization; Beans (Cowpea); Marketers; Imo State