1. Introduction
Agriculture is the bedrock of most countries of the world especially developing countries such as Nigeria. It contributes immensely to the Nigeria economy in various ways, such as the provision of food for the increasing population; supply of adequate raw materials and labour to the industrial sector; major source of rural employment opportunities: generation of foreign exchange earnings and provision of market for the products of the industrial sector. In Nigeria, the agriculture sector contribution about 42% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and provides employment to more than 70% of the people especially those in the rural sector. One of the agricultural products that has contributed immensely to the country’s economic growth is maize.
Maize is a staple grain/cereal crop grown almost in all parts of the world. It is a high yeilding cereal grown successfully under rain-fed environment and requires less capital. It has established itself as a very significant component of the farming system and determines the cropping pattern of the predominantly peasant farmers. This grain crop is used as human food, animal feed, as well as for industrial usage. It can be prepared in a variety of ways for human consumption such that you can hardly see a person who doesn’t consume it in form or typology. Maize can be boiled, roasted or fried while industrially it can be processed to produce cornflakes, golden morn, quaker oat, custard, flour, beer and beverages, as well as animal feed. Maize is one of the most abundant food crops in Nigeria; about 80% is consumed by man and animals while 20% is utilized in variety of industrial processes for production of starch, oil, high fructose, corn sweetener, ethanol, cereal and alkaline, consisting of 71% starch, 9% protein and 4% oil on a dry weight basis. Maize has immense potential to meet food requirement of human population because it has a great significance as human food, animal feed and diversified uses in a large number of industrial products.
Agricultural marketing is a form of marketing that encompasses all goods and services related to agriculture. Most producers do not sell their goods directly to the final users; between them stands a set of intermediaries performing a variety of functions. These intermediaries constitute a marketing channel (also called a trade channel or distributing channel). They are the pathway a product or service follows after production culminating in purchase and consumption by the final users. Market structure is defined as “the characteristics of the organization of a market which seem to influence strategically the nature of the competition and pricing within the market. Market structure consists of the characteristics of the organization of maize market which seems to influence strategically the nature of competition and pricing within the market [8]. Market structure can also be defined as the prevailing nature of competition in a market characterized by the number of buyers and sellers, their size distribution, the degree of product differentiation and the ease of entry of new marketing participants. It influences competition, information and pricing system operating in the market.
The three theoretical market models often used in describing market structure are; perfect competition, oligopolistic competition and monopolistic competition [10]. Market structure can thus be differentiated based on the number and size of producers and consumers in the market; the quantity of goods and services traded, and the degree to which information flows freely. Analysis of the market structure for agricultural products therefore, determines whether the market is perfect competitive market, oligopolistic market or monopolistic market.
The demand for maize sometimes outstrips supply as a result of the various domestic uses. In Nigeria, the demand for dry maize is increasing at a faster rate daily thereby increasing its price. This may be due to the fact that grain is being used for feeding poultry and also serve as the main food for many household. This widening demandsupply gap can also be as a result of the existence of inefficiency in the marketing system due to marketing problems such as poor market information, poor market structure, limited markets and large number of intermediaries, high cost of transportation, lack of capital, poor storage facilities. Dry maize marketing also depends on good transportation network for effective distribution to the wholesalers, retailers and customers especially during the peak season. The availability of market infrastructure like storage and transportation facilities, commercial marketing channels determine the ability of marketing system to effectively and efficiently perform its function.
Objectives of the Study:
The specific objectives of the study were to:
1. describe the intermediaries involved in dry white maize marketing;
2. identify the distribution channels of dry white maize; and
3. describe the market structure of dry white maize in the study area.
2. Methods
The study area is the Southeast geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The states in the South- east geopolitical zone are Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo, States. Southeastern Nigeria lies between latitude 40 50’N to 70 10’N and longitudes 60 40’E to 80 30’E. In the study area, the mean minimum and maximum temperatures range from 21°C-30°C in the coast to 29°C – 33°C in the interior. It spreads over a total area of 78,618 km2, representing 8.5% of the nation’s total land area. The area has a total population of 16,381,729 million. The area is inhabited by the Ibo race and Igbo is the native language, though English is widely spoken and used as official language in governance. They are predominantly Christians and agriculture is the predominant occupation mostly in the rural areas. Dry maize marketing is a common enterprise in markets in the five constituent States of the zone. Both yellow and white dry maize are marketed by the marketing agents. The state in the Southeast lies between latitude 40 501N to 70 100N and longitude 60 401E and 80 301E. It spreads over a total area of 26,982.67km2 representing 8.5% of the nation’s total land area with a total population of 16,395,555 million.
The multi-stage sampling technique was employed for the study. In stage one, random sampling techniques was used to select 3 states (Anambra, Enugu and Imo) out of the 5 states in the Southeast, Nigeria. Stage II entailed purposive selection of 5 LGA, from the each of the selected states, thus making a total of 15 LGAs. The selected LGAs are Enugu North, Enugu South, Udeenu, Nsukka and Ude in Enugu State; Ihiala, Aguata, Nnewi North, Onitsha South and Onitsha North in Anambra State; and Owerri North, Owerri Municipal, Ezinifite, Oru West and Orlu in Imo State. The third stage involved the selection of the markets to use. Purposive sampling technique was used to obtain 15 daily markets from the sampled LGAs. The selection was based on markets that had a preponderance of dry white maize so as to enable researcher collect necessary data (Reported major markets by market participants).
Finally, simple random method was used to select five wholesalers and ten retailers from each of the selected markets to arrive at a sample frame of 225 respondents. Primary data were obtained using structured questionnaire administered. Data were collected on the various channels through which dry maize grains get to the final consumer, the size of the various intermediaries involved in dry maize marketing. Descriptive statistics, such as frequency distribution, flow chart and percentage were used to describe the market channels. The Gini coefficient was used to determine the market concentration or nature of competition in the market i.e. market structure.
3. Conclusion
On marketing channels and market structure of dry maize in the Southeast, the marketing channels ranged from zero to three level channels while the market structure reflected a fairly competitive market. This was indicated by the Gini coefficients of 0.321, 0.285 and 0.224 for producers/suppliers, wholesalers and retailers of white maize respectively.