Determinants of Market Participation by Maize Farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Smallholder farmers’ performance of marketing functions in Nigeria is very low despite the fact that there are invaluable benefits associated with market orientation and favourable trends in agricultural commercialization. This is the motivation for this study, which analyses market participation by maize farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to assess the extent of commercialization of agriculture in the rural and peri-urban areas, determine the factors that influence the degree of commercialization among households, identify the constraints facing the respondents in the study areas and carry out a policy simulation and analysis of market participation by maize farmers in the study area. The sample size for this study was 80 maize farmers from both rural and peri-urban areas by employing multistage sampling technique. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, truncated regression analysis and chow- test. The study revealed that the extent of agricultural commercialization in rural area (66.6%) was higher than that of peri-urban (65%) area in maize enterprise. It was observed that age of the household head, experience of the household head, cropping system, quantity of harvested output, farm size, land tenure and unit price of output had significant (5% and 1% significant level) influence on the intensity of market participation by maize farmers in rural and peri-urban areas of the State. As revealed from the study, some of the constraints facing majority of the maize farmers in the State covering rural and peri-urban areas were insufficient capital, high cost of transportation, poor road network, poor storage facilities, lack of credit facilities, inadequate agricultural inputs. It could be concluded that the extent of commercialization in both rural and peri-urban areas were not high enough, which calls for the attention of all the concerned parties (government and individuals) to put in place measures that will critically improve the extent of agricultural commercialization in the study area. In order to enhance market participation of maize farmers, well equipped market centers in various villages should be established by government and private individuals.

Keywords: Commercialization, Market Orientation, Marketing, Peri-urban Area, Rural Area, Simulation, Truncated Regression