Crop Farming Households Market Participation in Major Food Markets in Southwestern Agricultural Zone of Nigeria

Abstract

The existence of low-cost, well-integrated and efficient rural markets is a key element in agricultural
development and welfare economics. In Nigeria as well as other developing countries, many farmers are not
linked to the market, they offer little of their produce for sale and this in turn leads to low income from farm
activities. There are plethora of studies on food security, food marketing and other food related issues in
Nigeria. However, adequate attention has not been given to crop farming households in relation to market
participation. Amulti-stage sampling technique was employed for the selection of respondents from a random
sampling of 3 states in southwestern agricultural zone of Nigeria, and primary data were collected using
interview guide. Atotal of four hundred copies of the questionnaire were administered to selected respondents,
out of which 342 copies were retrieved and found useful for analysis. The analytical tools used were descriptive
statistics, Net Market Index (NMI) and Probit regression model.
The results showed that the average age of crop farmers in the study area was 50.9±16.8 years and the average
farm size was 1.8±1.7 ha. Farming experience was 21.0±9.2 years, average household size was 7.0±2.8,
distance to the nearest market was 7.7±9.2 km and average farm income per month was N10, 631.62±2.3. The
result of NMI showed that 57.89% of the crops farming households were net buyers of food in the zone. Also,
the factors influencing market participation include access to information on price of commodity, household
size, non- farm income, farm size, farming experience and access to extension workers.
It was concluded that above half of the crop farming households were net buyers in various food markets.
Therefore, it is recommended that efforts of the government should be geared towards formulating policies that
would ensure adequate market linkage by farmers both at the local and national levels.