Abstract
The study was designed to analyze the marketing of banana
and plantain in Enugu State. The
specific objectives were to: describe the socio-economic
characteristics of banana and
plantain marketers; identify the marketing channels for the
crops, examine the structure of the
marketing system for both crops, estimate their marketing
margins at both wholesale and
retail levels, estimate the rate of price transmission and
market integration among banana and
plantain markets, and identify the constraints facing the
marketing of both crops. The study
adopted survey research design. Multi-stage sampling
technique was employed to compose a
sample of 160 respondents (30 wholesalers and 50 retailers
for banana, and 30 wholesalers
and 50 retailers for plantain). Data for the study were
collected from both primary and
secondary sources.
Time series data on retail prices of banana and plantain
from 2007 to 2011
were obtained from Enugu State Agricultural Development
Programme (ENADEP). Primary
data were collected using structured questionnaire. Data
collected were analyzed using Gini
coefficient, marketing margin analysis, Johansen
co-integration test, Vector error correction
model, and descriptive statistics. The result showed that
majority of the respondents (87.50%)
were females with average age of 35 years, 76.20% of them
were married while 41.20%
attained primary education. The mean scores for household
size and marketing experience
were seven and 13 years respectively. Also, 78.30% of the wholesalers
obtained their
products in heaps directly from producers while 21.70%
bought from rural assemblers. Most
of the retailers (78.00%) obtained their products in bunches
from wholesalers while 28.00%
bought from producers. Furthermore, the results of the Gini
coefficient for banana and
plantain retailers and wholesalers showed low levels of
inequitable distribution of income
amongst them. However, inequalities existed more at retail
level than at the wholesale level.
The mean marketing margin for plantain (21.62%) and banana
(13.68%) retailers showed that
there was a significant difference between them, while the
marketing margins for plantain
(11.65%) and banana (10.58%) wholesalers did not differ
significantly. The analysis of price
transmission and market integration showed that the Error
Correction coefficient (-0.22 and –
0.25) measured by the error correction mechanism (ECM) for
the rural and urban prices of
banana had low rate of price transmission, while the ECM
result (-0.12 and -0.30) for the
rural and urban prices of plantain indicated also a low rate
of price transmission; though,
showing the presence of market integration. Also, low
capital/initial investment, finance, high
cost of transportation and heavy imposition of tax/levies
are significant constraints to plantain
and banana marketing in the study area. The study therefore
recommended that government
should set up fiscal and monetary policies that will
stabilize price for consumable products
like banana and plantain, and that government should reduce
the high inequality that exists
among retailers by making available adequate credit to
market participants at appropriate
interest rates. Finally, government should formulate and
implement policies targeted at
improving infrastructures such as roads and providing market
information outfit that
disseminates information timely to marketers for improved
marketing of banana and plantain.