ABSTRACT
The study was carried out on the analysis of pepper marketing in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. It described the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, identified the various marketing channels, examined the marketing structure, conduct, performance, marketing margin and profitability as well as identified the constraints faced by pepper marketers.
Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. Primary data were collected using a set of structured questionnaire and interview schedule. A two-stage sampling procedure was used in selecting respondents from three markets for the study. The first stage was a purposive selection of three major markets from the Local Government Area, the selected markets were, New-Benin, Oba and Ekiosa markets. The second stage was a random sampling of marketers from each of the selected markets. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, marketing margin analysis, profitability analysis and multiple regression analysis.
The study revealed that female marketers (98.8%) dominated the markets. Most 82.5% of the marketers were married, 41.3% had primary school education, 75.0% had household size of four to six persons, 30% were about fifty six years old, 25% had marketing experience of one to five years. Findings from the study shows that the marketing of pepper in the study area was profitable (with a net profit of N876.90 per bag of pepper). Regression results revealed that a significant relationship existed between the net profit and purchase price, rent, marketing experience and the sale of Sombo (Capsicum annum). It can be concluded that pepper marketing is a viable enterprises for income generation, poverty alleviation, job creation especially in the present economic situation of Nigeria.
