ABSTRACT

The study examined the economics of the marketing of gari in Ikwuano local Government Area. The study was justified due to the fact that gari consumption is assuming a place of high importance, particularly amongst the low income earners. This makes the demand for gari to be high and the marketing efficiency ffëds to be checked. lkwuano was purposively selected because of its importance in gari marketing in the state. Four markets were purposively selected from two autonomous communities based on their location and market size. Random sampling was used for selection of respondents. Data was collected by the use of - both primary and secondary data. A total of 120 copies of questionnaire were administered. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression and cost —benefit analysis were used for analyzing the data. Results showed that socio-economic characteristics have an influence on the quality of gaIi bought for resale by middlemen. Four marketing channels were identified by the study. The gross marketing margin for cost —benefit analysis were N1000.53, N765.12 and N970.88 per 50kg bag of gari, for the producer, wholesaler and retailer respectively while the marketing efficiency were Afiam (636.66%), Ainawom (82.56%), Ndoro (74.28%), and Umuariaga (50.11%) for the four different markets. The major marketing problems identified were transportation problem, price intbility, exchange problem and funding problem. Therefore, based on the fmding, marketing strategies were proposed for sustaining agricultural investment, especially amongst women in the field of marketing.