PROFITABILITY OF CRAYFISH MARKETING IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study focused on profitability of crayfish marketing in Ondo State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire in three Local Government Areas of the State through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data collected were analyzed using; Descriptive Statistics, Budgetary Analysis, Shepherd Futrel, Gini Coefficient, Lorenz Curve, Seemingly Unrelated Regression Equation (SURE) and Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance. The mean age of the retailers was 42 years while wholesalers was 46 years, 100% of the respondents (Retailers and wholesalers) were females. Majority of the retailers (41%) have primary school education while majority of the wholesalers (64%) have secondary school education, 77.8% of Retailers and 75.6% of Wholesalers are married. The retailers have an average household size of five (5) while the wholesalers have an average household size of seven (7). The marketing experience of the retailers was twelve (12) years while that of wholesalers was seventeen and half (17.5) years.The total revenue of the retailer was ₦2,062,487.28 while that of the wholesaler was ₦4,565,444.40. The Retailer has gross margin of ₦874,097.28 while wholesaler has his to be ₦1,281,003.12, while their profits were ₦810,367.71 and ₦1,216,752.99 respectively. The values of Return on Investment (ROI) are 0.65 and 0.36 for Retailer and wholesaler respectively. The market efficiency of Retailer and Wholesaler are 60.71.14% and 73.35% respectively and the operational efficiency which is greater than one (1) being 1.65 and 1.36 proved that the market is efficient. Gini-coefficient value of wholesaler (0.58) and retailer (0.56) revealed the presence of inequality among the crayfish marketers which was also shown by the Lorenz’s curve. The result revealed existence of Oligopoly structure where only a few actors control a large share of the market. It was also revealed in this study that a number of the factors significantly influence the performance of crayfish marketing in the study areas. These are: Years of education, Marital status, Quantity purchase, Cost of crayfish, Age and Membership of cooperatives. The major constraints faced by the Crayfish marketers in the study areas are: Too many middlemen, High transportation cost, Insecurity on the road, High cost of crayfish, Scarcity of crayfish, Cost of storage, Inability to access credit and Inadequate market information. Crayfish marketing is more profitable at retail level compare to wholesalers; therefore it is advisable that the marketers should sell directly to the final consumers. Policy that will help make the market more competitive should be made. This will enable high level of equality among the marketers.