Marketing margin and market efficiency of Sorghum in Bida Local Government area of Niger State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study examined the economic analysis of sorghum marketing in Bida, Niger State. It assessed and described the socio – economic characteristics of sorghum marketers, cost and returns of sorghum marketing as well as marketing efficiency and marketing channels for sorghum. Twenty sorghum marketers were randomly selected from four markets in Bida town, giving a total of eighty respondents. The use of well structured questionnaire was employed to elicit information from respondents. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the socio – economic characteristics of sorghum marketers. This analysis revealed that 51.25% of respondents were within the age group of 41 years, 63.75% of the respondents were females and only 23.75% had formal education. Capital acquisition was mostly sourced from friends and relatives. Gross margin analysis, marketing efficiency were all used to determine the profitability of sorghum marketing and to determine the market efficiencies. The study revealed a decentralized marketing channel in the different markets studied.