Analysis of Cowpea Market Structure, Conduct and Performance in Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analysed cowpea marketing in Bade Local Government Area, Yobe State. Gashua grain market was purposively selected. One hundred and five (105) respondents were randomly selected from the market. Primary data was used for the study and the data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Gini Coefficient, marketing margin and marketing efficiency. The findings of the study indicated that majority (99.05%) of the respondents were male, in the active age group of 30-39 years. The educational level of the respondents showed that 100% had various form of education and 76.19% were married while 90% of the cowpea marketers do not have access to credit to finance their business. The Gini Coefficient for cowpea market participants showed an unequal distribution in the income generated with Gini Coefficient of 0.8320 which signifies perfect monopsony/monopoly in the market. The cowpea marketing margins was N2000 and the marketing efficiency was 2.07 this indicates that for every 100 kg bag of cowpea sold, there was a profit of N2000. These clearly indicated that cowpea marketing was a profitable business in the study area. The study recommended that government and non-governmental agencies should empower the marketers through the provision of micro credit facilities to encourage more people to go into cowpea marketing. Modern storage facilities and the use of airtight containers should be encouraged among marketers for sustainable cowpea storage so as to improve it shelf life.