Determinants of decision to participate in cocoyam marketing among small-holder farmers in Abia State

Abstract

This study presents the Estimates of Factors Influencing Decision to Participate in Cocoyam Marketing in Abia State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of this study are to estimate factors influencing the decision to participate in cocoyam marketing in Abia State. Primary and secondary data were used in the survey. The primary data were collected from a random sample of 200 cocoyam marketers in Abia State. The respondents were drawn from rural and urban markets in the agricultural zones of the state. The data were analyzed using probit model. The result shows that values of cocoyam and farm size are positively associated with the probability to sell cocoyam. This probably means that households with large farm sizes tended to produce marketable surpluses and participated in the market as sellers. Moreover, it is possible when the value of the crop was high(1.0%,significant). The coefficients on education and price of cocoyam have positive signs. The result shows that education acquired by the marketers’ play a significant role in enhancing members’ participation as cocoyam sellers. From the finding, large farm sizes produced marketable surplus and it encouraged sellers participation in the market. Since land is a critical production asset that has a direct bearing on the production of a marketable surplus. The study therefore recommends that farm land should be made available to enhance production and marketable surplus. There is need to encourage farmers to farm to the nearest town since it enhance the probability of the households to participate as sellers in the cocoyam market.

Keywords: Participation, Cocoyam, Marketing, Abia State