Profitability of Cocos nucifera oil in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted to survey the processing and marketing of Cocos nucifera oil in Chikun LGA of Kaduna state, Nigeria. A  multistage sampling technique was adopted. On the first and second stages, 5 wards namely Narayi, Sabon tasha, Nasarawa, Rido,  Chikun and 2 markets from each ward were purposively selected, on the third stage, (24) respondents were randomly selected from each  market which gave a total sample size of 120 respondents. Data was obtained with the aid of a well-structured and open-ended  questionnaire administered among selected processors and marketers. Descriptive statistics and profit margin analysis was used to  analyse the data. Results obtained indicated that 98.3% of the respondents were females, 54.2% falls within the age group of 41-50 years,  82.5% were married, 42.5% falls within the household size of 6-10 individuals, 65.8% had secondary education, 55.0% and 67.5% have  Cocos nucifera business as their major occupation. Results indicated that, 53.3% of the respondents had 6 - 10 years of experience.  Marketing channels indicated that, 51.7% obtained their products from the assemblers, had monthly sale revenue of ₦130,550.00, total  cost ₦76,850 and gross profit margin of ₦53,700 per month. However, the return on investment (ROI) showed that, Cocos nucifera oil  marketers incurred 41.13% from their business. Cost of labour and transportation are the major constraint of coconut oil business. From  this research, coconut oil business is profitable. There is need for new techniques and equipments to simplify the processing of coconut  oil business to reduce labour cost.