Impacts of transportation on the profitability of sweet potato production in selected Local Government Areas of Kwara state, Nigeria

Abstract

Transportation is an essential aspect of agricultural production. However, in many parts of Nigeria, bad transport system is still a problem of rural farmers. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the impacts of transportation on the profitability of sweet potato production in Kwara State. The sampling techniques involved the purposive selection of two local government areas (LGAs). Two communities were randomly selected from each of the two LGAs. Then, twenty six sweet potato farmers were finally selected from each of the four communities giving a total of 120 respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multinomial logit model and gross margin. The study showed that head porterage, motor cycle, motor vehicle and pick up van of less than 3 tons were the most prominent means of transporting sweet potato in the study area. Also, the size of the farm, cost of transportation, quantity of sweet potato produced, and average distance from the farm to the market are the factors that significantly affected the choice of transportation means used by the farmers in the study area. The results also showed that the farmers who sell their produce at the market earn more profit than those that sell at the farm gate. Therefore, in other to encourage the farmers to produce more sweet potatoes it is recommended that adequate transportation system be provided.

Keywords: Sweet Potatoes, Transportation, Logit, Profitability, Impact