Comparing the commercialisation margins among traders of the marketing channel of cassava flour in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Abstract

In Yaoundé (Cameroon), one deplores a lack of transparency of information between trader categories along the marketing channel of  cassava flour. This paper investigated that issue by evaluating the marketing margins among trader categories of cassava flour in the  Yaoundé urban markets. The results indicated that the yearly average net margins of different trader categories of cassava flour were  different in pairs with wholesalers earning the most (435,022 FCFA), followed in order by semi-wholesalers (333,709 FCFA) and retailers  (90,566 FCFA). The Lorenz curve coupled with Gini coefficient and Atkinson index indicated evidence of an asymmetry of information by  stratum of income for each trader category which was very high among retailers and low among wholesalers and semi-wholesalers. In  order to achieve fairness, the cassava flour traders should organise themselves into groups/cooperatives and should be accompanied by  government to promote partnership between trader groups and cooperatives and to improve their negotiation skills and marketing  information systems.