EFFECTS OF PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT ON AGRIBUSINESS PERFORMANCE IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the Effects of Procurement Management on Agribusiness Performance in Ondo State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to determine the effects of procurement planning on the performance of agribusiness; examine the effects of procurement staffing on the performance of agribusiness; evaluate the effects of procurement monitoring and control on the performance of agribusiness and identify procurement management challenges affecting agribusiness and suggest solutions. The research involved the selection of agribusiness establishments within two senatorial districts in Ondo State, Nigeria, which were Ondo Central and Ondo North. In making the findings of this research possible, one hundred and seven copies of questionnaire were administered among thirty five (35) selected agribusiness establishments within the study area. The total number of usable responses received for the analysis was ninety six (96). They were interpreted using descriptive statistics (Percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson Product Moment Correlation). The study revealed that all identified four procurement management variables have direct impact on the performance of the agribusiness firms. The findings revealed that organisations plan extensively for its purchase with a mean score 4.01 and also, all the identified challenges had severe effect on agribusiness performance in Ondo State with the severity indices ranging from 3.81-4.70. Funding was observed to be the main threat to successful procurement within the agribusiness sector in Ondo State with a severity index of 4.70. The study also revealed that the sampled organizations have a very weak functional enterprise resource planning (ERP) system used in procurement process, as displayed by the mean score of 2.79. All the four null hypotheses tested were rejected while all the alternate hypotheses were accepted. Hypotheses one to four shows that the relationship to be statistically significant at 1% level, implying that an increase in the level of procurement management of the agribusiness firms will lead to an increase in agribusiness performance. From the study, it was recommended that the existing procurement planning processes be revised and strengthened to further improve organisational performance; the controls be thoroughly reviewed; while monitoring be carried out regularly, also the procurement management challenges were properly identified and necessary solutions were provided.