Poverty analysis at two levels of gari marketing in Ibadan metropolis

Abstract

Socio-economic characteristics and extent of poverty among gari retailers and wholesalers in Ibadan Metropolis in Nigeria were critically examined. The results showed that gari retailing and wholesaling are low investment, female-dominated ventures the capital for which was derived mainly from personal source. Poverty incidence was 36.7% and 16.7% among retailers and wholesalers at poverty lines of N959.35 and N1,244.83 per month. At these poverty lines, twenty-two (22) retailers and ten (10) wholesalers (out of sixty in each case) were in poverty. The average spending of the 22 and 10 poor retailers and wholesalers were N724.18 and N1,244.14 per month. A poverty depth of 24.00% was obtained for retailers with the cost of eliminating poverty put at N14,110.20 per month. The corresponding values for wholesalers were 15.00% and N6,821.40 per month. Most of the retailers and wholesalers that were poor were just immediately below their respective poverty lines. The poverty severity indexes were 14.9% for retailers and 7.40% for wholesalers. This means that poverty is not very severe as only 15.0% of retailers and 6.7% of wholesalers were experiencing extremely chronic poverty situation. It is recommended that policy interventions which can reduce cost of business operation and increase invested capital for both groups be experimented as possible poverty alleviation strategies.

Keywords: poverty incidence, depth, severity, gari middlemen, Ibadan metropolis

Moor Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 5(2) 2004: 135-143