Abstract:
The study assessed the marketing of smoked fish in Akure metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: describe the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents in the study area, estimate the costs and returns of smoked fish marketing, examine the market structure and conduct of smoked fish, determine the factors affecting the profitability of smoked fish marketing and identify the major constraints faced by smoked fish marketers. Primary data were used for this study with the aid of a structured questionnaire. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select respondents for the study. A total number of 120 respondents were used for the study. Data collected were analysed using Descriptive Statistics, Gross margin analysis, Gini coefficient, Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression model and Simultaneous Quantile Regression (SQR).
The study revealed that majority (95%) of the respondents were less than or equal to 50 years old, most (97.5%) of the respondents were female and 94.2% of them were married. The costs and returns analysis showed that the mean total variable cost was N169,752.28, while the average fixed cost was N8,550.83. The total cost of marketing and total revenue were N178,303.11 and N240,660.25 respectively with gross margin and profit of N70,907.97 and N62,357.14 respectively. The profitability ratio of 0.36 and efficiency ratio of 1.39 showed that smoked fish marketing is a profitable and viable enterprise in the study area. The Gini- Coefficient for smoked fish marketers in the study area was 0.4813 indicating a high level of income inequality among smoked fish marketers and high inefficiency in the market structure.
The OLS regression analysis result showed that out of nine variables used in the model; only four variables were statistically significant, six variables had positive relationship with profit, while the remaining three variables had negative association with profit. The coefficients of age, level of education and quantity purchased were positive and statistically significant while storage cost was negative but significant. The value of R2 was 0.7516.
