Assessment of Perceived Corrupt Practices in Marketing of Agricultural Produce Among Women Marketers in Ogbomoso Agricultural of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the corrupt practices in marketing of agricultural produce among women marketers in Ogbomoso Agricultural Zone of Oyo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was adopted in the selection of respondents for the study; while structured interview schedule was employed to obtain data from fifty (50) women marketers from five selected markets in each LGA of the zone. Data collected were analyzed with both descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The study revealed that (40.0%) of the sampled women were above 50 years of age; and most (70.0%) the women sampled were married and literate with different educational backgrounds and years of marketing experience. The Sampled women engaged in marketing of tomato/pepper (32.0%); rice/bean (32.0%); maize (26.0%); yam/cassava (38.0%); orange/pineapple (8.0%). The study identified different corrupt practices associated with marketing of agricultural produce in which adulteration of processed agricultural products ranked first with WMS of 2.36; while sales of poor quality produce ranked least with WMS of 0.20. There is significant relationship between selected socio-economic characteristics of women marketers and their perceived level of severity of identified corrupt practices associated with marketing of agricultural produce. The study therefore recommended that government should improve on her effort in standardizing the measurement unit and enforce its usage through the regulatory bodies set up for this task.