




































 AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL STUDIES 7(1) (2023), 10-19  

10 

 

      AGRICULTURAL STUDIES 

                                                               AIJAS VOL 7 NO 1 (2023) P-ISSN 2641-4155   E-ISSN 2641-418X 
                                                  

                                                                                                                        Available online at www.acseusa.org      

                                                                                                                                     Journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas 
                                                                                                                                         Published by American Center of Science and Education, USA 

ANALYSIS OF CASSAVA TUBER MARKETING IN RURAL AND 

URBAN MARKETS IN EDO SOUTH AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONE, 

EDO STATE, NIGERIA  

 

   Magdalene Iredia Osakue  (a)1   Christopher Osamudiamen Emokaro  (b)   Chukwunalu Okolie Ossai  (c)   
 

(a) Research Intern, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria; E-mail:osakueiredia@gmail.com 
     (b) Professor, Agricultural Economics Department, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria; E-mail: christopher.emokaro@uniben.edu 
     (c) Research Associate, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria; E-mail: c.ossai@cgiar.org 

 

 
A R T I C L E I N F O 
 

 

Article History: 
 

Received: 25th November 2022  

Accepted: 24th January 2023 

Online Publication: 30th January 2023 

 

Keywords: 

Manihot esculenta,  Marketing,              

Efficiency, Profitability 

 

JEL Classification Codes:  

       

Q17 

 
 

 
A B S T R A C T 
 
Cassava farmers and marketers are faced with problems bothering on poor pricing of the product 

locally, with attendant negative implications on their profitability. Hence, this study focused on the 

profitability of cassava marketing in rural and urban markets in Edo South Agro-Ecological Zone, Edo 

State, Nigeria. A three-stage sampling procedure was used in drawing up a sample of 161 cassava 

marketers from seven purposely selected major cassava markets. Data collected with the aid of a well-
structured questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics, budgetary analysis and regression 

analysis. Cassava tuber marketing was shown to be profitable in the study area with a monthly gross 

margin of ₦29,061.4 and a return per Naira invested of 0.29 (29%) for rural marketers. Urban marketers 

had a mean monthly gross margin of   ₦19, 961.3 per marketer and a return per Naira invested of 0.32 

(32%). Rural markets were found to be more efficient (576.78%) than urban markets (168.84%). The 

major factor militating against the farmers and marketers in their adopted management practices was 

having little money to spend. It is concluded that in order to improve the profitability of cassava tuber 
marketers in the study area, measures should be taken to cut down on the cost of transportation. 

 
 

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee ACSE, USA. This article is an open-access article distributed under 

the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license 

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).                           

 

INTRODUCTION 

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important crop widely cultivated in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although the crop is 

grown virtually in all parts of the sub-continent, production is specific in the humid tropics. Cassava plays a major role in 

efforts to alleviate Nigeria’s food crisis because of its efficient production of food energy, all year round availability, and 

tolerance to extreme stress conditions and suitability to various farming and food systems (Ezeh, Anyiro, Obioma, & 

Maduagwu, 2012). Cassava is currently undergoing a transition from a mere subsistence crop found on the field of 

subsistence farmers to a commercial crop grown in plantations. This unprecedented expansion on the crop is attributed to 

its discovery as a cheap source of edible carbohydrate that could be processed into different forms of human delicacies and 

animal feeds (Onyenwoke & Simonyan, 2013). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2013), not only 

is cassava a very important staple food for the urban and rural populace in Nigeria, it is also a part and parcel of the rural 

livelihoods of the people. As a food crop, cassava fits well into the farming systems of the smallholder farmers in Nigeria 

because it is available all year round, thus ensuring household food security (Oladejo, 2016). 

Aside from its food security and famine reserve role, cassava also possesses high economic potential when 

exploited as raw material/feedstock for different feed and non-feed industrial applications through import substitution and 

export market opportunities. Most of the developing tropical countries value cassava not only because it provides food 

security but because of its ability to be converted into a large number of products ranging from traditional and novel food 

products, livestock feed, ethanol and starch and its numerous derivatives (Sewando, 2012). According to the United Nations 

Industrial Development Organization; globally, the five largest cassava producing nations are Nigeria, Thailand, Indonesia, 

                                                      
1Corresponding author: ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3808-3473 

© 2023 by the authors. Hosting by ACSE. Peer review under responsibility of American Center of Science and Education, USA.  

https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.278 

 
To cite this article: Osakue, M. I., Emokaro, C. O., & Ossai, C. O. (2023). ANALYSIS OF CASSAVA TUBER MARKETING IN RURAL AND URBAN 

MARKETS IN EDO SOUTH AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONE, EDO STATE, NIGERIA. American International Journal of Agricultural Studies, 7(1), 10–

19. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.278 

https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.278
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3808-3473
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3808-3473
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8830-1814
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1924-5855


Osakue et al., American International Journal of Agricultural Studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 

  

11 
 

Brazil and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the major cassava producing countries 

include Nigeria (53 million tonnes in 2013), DRC (16 million tonnes), Angola (16.4 million tonnes), Ghana (15.9 million 

tonnes) and Mozambique (10 million tonnes). This means that Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world and 

with such a large volume of production, it would be expected that cassava and its products would be abundant and available 

for domestic use and export. That however, is not the case. According to Ogisi, Begho, and Alimeke, (2013) despite the fact 

that Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, its output is way below the total demand for the crop as food, for 

industrial raw materials and for export. Although Nigeria occupies the leading position as producer, the country still imports 

significant quantities of cassava products such as starch, flour and sweeteners (Olakunle, 2012). 

 

Statement of the Problem 
Fresh root cassava cannot be stored for long because they rot within 3 – 4 days. This exerts pressure on handling, packaging, 

transportation and sales with negative effect on market prices (Ugwumba & Ukoh, 2010). This perishable nature of cassava 

leads to substantial qualitative and quantitative losses and in a bid to sell their products as quickly as possible to avoid 

deterioration and losses due to transportation difficulty and inadequate storage materials, cassava tuber marketers tend to 

sell their products locally and at reduced prices to encourage purchasing which leads to reduced profit margin.  

 

Objectives of the Study 
The broad objective of this study was to analyse cassava tuber marketing in Rural and Urban markets in Edo South Agro-

Ecological zone. The specific objectives were to; 

 Describe the socio-economic characteristics of cassava tuber marketers in Rural and Urban markets in the study 

area 

  Compare the profitability of cassava tuber marketing in rural and urban markets in the study area 

 Describe the market structure, conduct and assess the performance of cassava tuber markets in the study area 

 Outline the management practices carried out by the marketers and farmers to prevent post-harvest losses in the 

study area 

 Identify the constraints militating against the marketing of cassava tubers in the study area 

 Identify the sources of information to cassava marketers on methods of preservation and management in the study 

area.  

 

Justification 
According to Adejumo, Abass, Okoruwa, and Salman (2015), Food security has persisted as a major issue in the world 

today especially in developing countries. Availability and access to food are negatively affected by many factors, prominent 

of which is post-harvest loss (which could either be physical loss or economic loss) with its attendant negative effect on 

product prices, and profitability. 

This study is justified in that though the research community has extensively explored the marketing of cassava 

tubers such as research works carried out by Ogisi, Begho, and Alimeke (2013), Oladejo (2016) and others, very little 

research work has been done on the analysis of cassava tuber marketing in rural and urban markets in the study area and 

much less has been conducted to compare the profitability of rural and urban marketers in the study area. This is the gap in 

knowledge this study is designed to fill. This research work will provide the Government and policy makers with information 

on the determinants of the profitability of urban marketers of cassava in the study area and their effect on the economy as a 

whole which will assist in the formulation of policies and decisions that will improve the profitability of the marketers and 

the general wellbeing of the economy. The study will also provide information to cassava tuber marketers in the study area 

on different management practices to prevent post-harvest losses which will also help to increase their profit margin. 
 

MATERIALS AND METHODS 

Area and scope of study  
The study was carried out in Ikpoba-Okha, Ovia North-East, Uhumwonde and Egor LGAs of Edo State. Edo State comprises 

18 LGAs, three agro ecological zones and shares boundaries of three other states of the federation. 

The choice of Edo State for the study was deemed suitable because of its precedence in agriculture and its related 

activities. The state is mainly agrarian, producing crops like cassava, yam, rubber, plantain, maize, oil palm, cocoyam, etc. 

 

Sample Size and Sampling Procedure 
A three-stage sampling procedure was adopted in the study. The first stage involved a purposive sampling of four out of the 

seven LGAs that make up Edo South, based on the preponderance of cassava marketing activities in these LGAs. The second 

stage involved a purposive sampling of eight markets (four urban markets and three rural markets) based on the high 

prevalence of marketing activities in cassava tuber. The third stage involved a simple random sampling of 36 marketers 

from Obaretin, 21 from Obagie, 28 from Ugbojiobo, 15 from Ehor, 28 from Enyai, 23 from Oregbeni and 10 from Uselu. 

This made a total of 161 cassava tuber marketers from 4 LGAs (Ikpoba –Okha, uhumwonde, Egor and Ovia North-East).  

 

Table 1. Sample size and sampling procedure 

 
Markets Frequency  Percentage 

Rural 
  

Obaretin 36 22.36% 



Osakue et al., American International Journal of Agricultural Studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 

  

12 
 

Obagie 21 13.04% 

Ugbojiobo 28 17.39% 

Ehor 15 9.32% 

Total 100 62.11% 

Urban 
  

Enyai 28 17.39% 

Oregbeni 23 14.29% 

Uselu 10 6.21% 

Total 61 37.89% 

 

Data collection 
Primary and secondary data was used for the study. The primary data was generated through the use of questionnaires 

administered through scheduled interviews. Secondary data was collected from relevant journals, literature, articles, 

textbooks and the internet. 

 

Measurement of variables 
Variable used for the study was measured as follows: 

 

Age: was measured in years  

Sex: was measured in males or females  

Marital Status: single, married, divorced, widow/widower 

Level of Education: informal, formal (school certificate, junior secondary school, senior secondary school and tertiary) 

Household Size: was measured by the number of individuals in the family 

Marketing Experience: was measured in years 

Analytical techniques: The data generated was analyzed using the following: 

 

Objective One: The socio-economic characteristics were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency 

counts, table percentages and standard deviation. 

 

Objective Two: Budgetary analysis such as gross margin and Return Per Naira Invested (RNI) were used to analyze the 

profitability of the cassava tuber marketing enterprises. 

 

Gross Margin (GM) was used in estimating the profit earned from the enterprise. It is calculated as the difference between 

Total Revenue (TR) and Total Variable Cost (TVC). TR is quantified as the quantity of cassava tuber sold × price per unit. 

TVC is quantified as the total cost of all variable inputs like purchase at farm gate, transportation, labor, etc. 

GM = TR – TVC 

 

Where; 

GM = Gross Margin 

TR = Total Revenue 

TVC = Total Variable Cost. 

The RNI on Variable Cost was used in assessing the profitability of the enterprises.  

The RNI was computed by the equation; 

RNI = GMTVC 

The profits were compared using the student t-test which is given as; 

t = XR -  XuSR + SU = XR -  XuSR + SU 

  

Where; 

Xu = mean of urban marketers’ profit 

XR = mean of rural marketers’ profit 

SU = standard deviation of urban marketers’ profit 

SR = standard deviation of rural marketers’ profit 

n = Number of respondents Sample size 
 

Objective Three: Market conduct was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as number of buyers and sellers, free entry 

and exit, homogeneity of product etc.  

Market structure was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Gini-coefficient. 

Gini coefficient is expressed thus; 

G.C = 1 - XY 

Where; 

G.C = Gini-coefficient 

X = proportion of sellers 

Y = cumulative proportion of total sales  

Market performance was analyzed based on marketing efficiency  

M.E = Net profit Total market cost ×100% 



Osakue et al., American International Journal of Agricultural Studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 

  

13 
 

Objective Four: A three point Likert-type scale was used in the identification of the management practices carried out by 

marketers and farmers in order to prevent post- harvest losses in the study area. The responses to the management practices 

were scored in such a way that the response indicating the most serious constraint will be given the highest score of 3. The 

responses were grouped into; very serious = 3, serious = 2, and not serious = 1. The mean was computed by summing up 

the scores on each item and dividing by the total number of responses.  

 

Objective Five: A three point Likert-type scale was used in the identification of constraints faced by the marketers. The 

responses to the constraints were scored as described in objective five procedure 

 

Objective Six: Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages were used to identify the sources of information to 

cassava marketers on the methods of preservation and management in the study area.   

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 

Socio-economics characteristics of the marketers  

Sex Categorization 
The results presented in Table 1 showed that the majority (87.6%) of the cassava marketers from the selected markets were 

female while 11.8% were males. This shows that there is a dominance of females in cassava marketing in the study area.  

 

 Age distribution of the cassava marketers 
The result shows that many of the cassava marketers were within the age range of 41 - 50 (42.2%) which was followed by 

those in the age range of 31 – 40(24.8%) and then, the next age range of 51 and above (21.1%). This corresponds to the 

findings of Nzeh and Ugwu (2014) who stated that most of the marketers were over 45 years of age. The age range with the 

least population was for cassava marketers who were less than 30 years of age. The mean age of the cassava marketers in 

the study area was about 43 years with a standard deviation of 8.7294. This implies that a large number of people who were 

into cassava marketing in the study area were those who were way past their youth and tending towards old age.  

 

Marital status of the cassava marketers 
Table 1 Shows that the majority (67.1%) of the cassava marketers were married (67.1%), with the next ranking population 

being those who were widowed (20.5%). This category of people is followed by those who were divorced (5.6%), and this 

in turn is followed by those who were separated (7%). The category of cassava marketers with the least population is those 

who were single (2.5%). 

 

Educational status of the cassava marketers 
Based on educational status, cassava marketers who attended secondary school had the most population (35.4%), with the 

next population being those who had no formal education (29.8%), who are also followed by those who had just primary 

education (26.1%) and the category with the least being those who had tertiary education (8.7%). This implies that cassava 

tuber marketers in the selected areas were largely literates. 

 

Household size of the cassava marketers 
Over half (67.7%) of the population had household size ranging between 4 – 7 persons, while 22.4% of the population had 

household size of eight persons and above. A few of the population (9.9%) had a household size of less than three persons. 

The Table also shows the mean household size of respondents to be six persons with a standard deviation of 2.65849. 

 

Marketing experience 
A good number (35.4%) of the population had marketing experience of less than five years and this showed the influx of 

marketers into cassava tuber marketing in the last decade and also implies the significance of cassava tuber marketing as an 

important source of income while twenty-six percent of the cassava marketers had marketing experience of 16 years and 

above. Twenty-four percent of the marketers had experience of between 6 – 10 years. Few (14.3%) of the population had 

marketing experience of between 11 – 15 years. The marketers had a mean marketing experience of 11 years with a standard 

deviation of 7.97504. The result on the Table shows that majority (82.6%) of the population were from monogamous 

families while very few of the marketers were from polygamous families. 

 

Source of capital 
Majority (68.9%) of the marketers generated their capital from personal savings which suggests that marketing of cassava 

tubers in the selected markets may not be capital intensive. This result supports the findings of Oladejo (2016).  A sizable 

(22.4%) number of the marketers sourced their capital from cooperatives and a lesser (8.1%) population of them got their 

capital from family and friends. A very small (0.6%) number of the population acquired their capital from the bank and this 

suggests very poor participation of the banking sector in financing cassava tuber marketers in the selected markets. 

 

Occupational distribution of the marketers 
It is shown on Table 1 that for most (59%) of the cassava marketers, cassava tuber marketing was their major occupation 

and this implies that cassava tuber marketing is profitable enough if not for anything else, to provide their basic needs and 

those who did not have cassava marketing as their major occupation were 42.2% of the population. 

 



Osakue et al., American International Journal of Agricultural Studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 

  

14 
 

Table 1. Distribution of cassava marketers based on their Socio-Economic characteristics  

 
Description Frequency Percentage Mean Std. Deviation 

Sex 
    

Female 141 87.6 
  

Male 19 11.8 
  

Age 
  

 

43.0559 

 

8.72944 

<30 19 11.8 

31 – 40  40 24.8 

41 – 50  68 42.2 

51 and above 34 21.1 

Marital status 
    

Single 4 2.5 
  

Married 108 67.1 
  

Divorced 9 5.6 
  

Widowed 33 20.5 
  

Separated 7 4.3 
  

Educational status 
    

No formal education 48 29.8 
  

Primary education 42 26.1 
  

Secondary education 57 35.4 
  

Tertiary education 14 8.7 
  

Household size 
  

 

6.1813 

 

2.65849 

<3 16 9.9 

4 – 7  109 67.7 

8 and above 36 22.4 

Marketing experience 
  

 

10.5155 

 

7.97504 

<5 57 35.4 

6 – 10  39 24.2 

11 – 15  23 14.3 

16 and above 42 26.1 

Nature of homestead 
    

Monogamy 133 82.6 
  

Polygamy 28 17.39 
  

Source of capital 
    

Banks 1 .6 
  

Cooperative society 36 22.4 
  

Personal savings 111 68.9 
  

Family and friends 13 8.1 
  

Major occupation 
    

Other occupation 66 42.2 
  

Cassava tuber marketing 95 59.00 
  

 
Profitability analysis of cassava tuber marketing 
From the result shown on Table 2 an average rural marketer sold a mean volume of 97.8 bags (of 50 kg each) of cassava 

tubers and incurred an average variable cost of N100, 228.6 per month, earning an average monthly revenue of N129, 290. 

This high amount could largely be attributed to the unequal distribution of income. Also the average monthly gross margin 

was estimated as N29,061.4. Dividing this value by four results in a mean weekly gross margin of N7,265.35. The estimated 

average rate of return was 0.29% which means that an estimate of N 0.29 was realized for every N1.00 spent on the business. 

Since the return per Naira invested, (RNI) on variable cost is less than 1 (0.29), it suggests that although cassava tuber 

marketing in the selected rural market is profitable, it is not a viable business enterprise. On the other hand, the result of an 

average urban marketer sold a mean volume of 56.78 bags of 50kg each and incurred an average variable cost of N62,314 

with average revenue of N82, 275.4 per month. The rate of return per Naira invested on variable cost was 0.32% which 

means that an estimate of N0.32 was realized for every N1.00 spent on the business. Since the RNI was also less than 1 

(0.32) it implies that although cassava tuber marketing in the selected urban markets is profitable as corroborated by Oladejo 

(2016) and Nzeh and Ugwu (2014), it is not a viable business enterprise. Also from the Table, the mean monthly gross 

margin was N19,961.3. This amounts to a mean weekly margin of N4990.325 per cassava tuber marketer.  

 

Table 2. Analysis of profitability of cassava tuber marketing in the study area 

    
RURAL 

   
URBAN 

 

 
Quantity unit 

cost 
Amount %contribution of 

TVC 
quantity unit cost Amount %contribution of 

TVC 

TOTAL REVENUE 
  

129290 
   

82275.41 
 

Average quantity 

purchase/market day (Bags) 

97.08 
   

56.78 
   



Osakue et al., American International Journal of Agricultural Studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 

  

15 
 

Average quantity 

sold/market day(bags) 

97.8 
   

56.78 
   

Average weight/bag (kg) 50 
   

50 
   

Average purchase 

price/bag(₦) 

  
955 

   
924.5902 

 

Average selling price/bag (₦) 
  

1344 
   

1544.754 
 

Cost of cassava tubers 97.08 955 95190 95.0 56.78 924.5902 50491.8 81.0 

marketing market charges 
  

272 0.3 
  

1000 1.6 

marketing transportation 
  

2674.6 2.7 
  

10540.33 16.9 

marketing packaging cost 
  

2092 2.1 
  

281.9672 0.5 

Total Variable Cost TVC 
  

100228.6 
   

62314.1 
 

GROSS MARGIN TR – TVC 
  

29061.4 
   

19961.31 
 

RNI = GM/TVC 
  

0.289951 
   

0.320334 
 

 

Comparison of the profitability of rural and urban marketers of cassava tubers 

The result (Table 3) shows that there exists a significant difference in the mean profitability of rural and urban marketers of 

cassava tubers at 5% confidence interval. This implies that the profitability of rural marketers of cassava tuber is significantly 

higher than the profitability of urban marketers of cassava tuber in the study areas. 

 

Table 3. Analysis of the comparison of profitability between rural and urban cassava markets in the study area 

t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Unequal Variances 
  

  RURAL  URBAN 

Mean 29061.4 19961.31148 

Variance 854223280.9 158056904.9 

Observations 100 61 

Hypothesized Mean Difference 0 
 

Df 146 
 

t Stat 2.727301075 
 

P(T<=t) one-tail 0.003584368 
 

t Critical one-tail 1.655357345 
 

P(T<=t) two-tail 0.007168737 
 

t Critical two-tail 1.976345655   

 
 Market Structure, Conduct and Performance 

 Market structure  
The market structure was analyzed using the Gini coefficient. Table 4 shows the estimated Gini coefficient to be 0.33. This 

implies a lower level of concentration and inequality in the distribution of income across the marketers in the study area. 

This result is similar to the findings of Egwuma et al. (2019) who found the existence of high variation of income distribution 

of cassava marketers. The implication of this is that no single trader was exercising control and as a result, cannot influence 

supply of the tubers by decreasing or increasing the quantity they sell. The output of each marketer accounts for an 

insignificant volume of trade in the market such that it could not affect prices. This semblance of perfect competition is a 

sign of efficiency in the market.  

 

Table 4. Computation of Gini coefficient for cassava tuber marketers   

Sales  Freq.  Proportion 

X 

Cumulative 

proportion 

Total value of 

sales  

Proportion of total 

sales 

Cumulative proportion of 

total sales Y 

∑XY 

less than 

50,000 

139 0.86 0.86 2887072.5 0.64 0.64 0.55 

50,001 - 

100,000 

20 0.12 0.98 1411150 0.31 0.95 0.11 

100,001 and 

above 

2 0.01 1 221050 0.05 1 0.01 

Total  161 1 
 

4501272.5 1 
 

0.67 

Gini coefficient = 1-∑XY = 1-0.67 = 0.33 

 

Market conduct 
Market conduct was analysed using descriptive statistics such as number of buyers and sellers, free entry and exit and 

homogeneity of product price determination, among others. The results on Table 5 shows that there was no product 

differentiation.   

 

Source of cassava tuber supply  
From the results shown on Table 5, it is observed that a little over half (51.6%) of the cassava marketers got their cassava 

from their farms and this goes to say that majority of the farmers market their commodity by themselves. This population is 

followed by a large (41.0%) percentage of the marketers who got their supply of cassava tuber from other farmers while 

7.5% of the cassava marketers got their supply from wholesalers. 

 

 

 



Osakue et al., American International Journal of Agricultural Studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 

  

16 
 

Position of the cassava marketers in the market chain 
From the result on Table 5, it is shown that on the basis of purchasers, over half of the marketers were processors (59%) 

who are closely followed by retailers (29.8%) and wholesalers accounting for very few (11.2%) of the population, implying 

that wholesalers would rather buy at the farm gate that at the market. The table also shows that on the basis of sellers, a 

large proportion (77.6%) of the marketers are sellers (wholesalers) while 22.6% are buyers (retailers). 

 

Factors that affects sales of cassava tuber 

Table 5 shows that the major factor that affected the sale of cassava tubers was size (38.5%) and this is because the buyers 

would always go for tubers that were large in size and this factor is followed by selling price (32.9%) and this in turn, is 

followed by experience (19.9%) of the marketers. This implies that the level of experience a particular marketer has in 

marketing cassava influences the volume of his /her sale of the commodity because such marketer would have been well 

known by buyers who will always patronize them based on past business dealings. Although transportation (5.0%), supply 

(1.9%) and season (1.9%) are factors that affect the sale of cassava tubers in the selected markets, their influence is small 

compared to that of tuber quality and selling price. 

 

Factors That Determine the Selling Price of Cassava Tuber in the selected Markets 
Table 5 shows that the cost price of the marketers is the major factor (29.8%) that determines the selling price of the tubers 

and next after this is the bargaining power (20.5%) of the buyers while season is the next important determinant of the price 

of cassava tuber and this could be because, the ground is usually dry during the dry season; making harvesting of the tubers 

more difficult and hence, an increase in price to compensate for their labour. Trade unions determined the selling price of 

8.1% of the marketers and this is because very few (27.1%) of the marketers belonged to trade unions. Market costs (7.5%) 

also determined the selling price of the tubers. The least determining factors were supply (1.9%) and demand (1.2%). 

 

Means of Transportation to the Market    
It is shown on Table 5 that 55.9% of the marketers make use of public transport to transport their commodity to the market 

and this population is above half of the population, suggesting that cassava tuber marketing is not capital intensive, neither 

is it asset dependent for its survival. A good number of the marketers employed the use of wheel barrows in transporting 

cassava to the market. About 17% of the marketers had their own personal means of transportation to the market while very 

few (0.6%) of the marketers employed head portage in their transportation. The bulky nature of cassava tuber discourages 

such means of transportation and this also suggests that such marketers who used head portage are those whose source of 

purchase are not far from the market. 

 

Occurrence of Trade Union in Cassava Tuber Markets and Their Effects 
From the results shown (Table 5), a very large population (78.3%) of the marketers reported that there was no trade union 

for cassava tuber marketers and as a result, they did not belong to any union for the marketing of their commodities. About 

22% of the marketers reported that there was a trade union for cassava tuber marketers and as such, they belonged to the 

association and this may be attributed to the fact that they help to protect the interest of the sellers by fixing a general price 

level for sale of a particular quantity of the cassava tuber. As shown (Table 3.2), 21.7% of the marketers reported that the 

trade union influences the marketing and price of cassava tubers.  

 

Strategy to attract customers to purchase leftovers  
Many (47.2%) of the marketers employed the giving out of discount as their strategy to attract customers to buy leftovers 

as there is no means of storing them and so, because of the perishable nature of cassava tubers, these marketers sold at very 

reduced prices as an incentive to encourage purchase. About 20% of the marketers applied persuasive efforts towards their 

customers, followed by open display (9.3%) and the strategy which was employed by the least population of marketers was 

giving of gifts/ additional commodities (1.2%). 

 

Table 5. Marketing Information of Cassava Tuber Marketers 

Description Frequency Percentage 

Source of cassava supply 
  

Your farm 83 51.6    

Other farmers 66 41.0 

Wholesaler 12 7.5 

Commodity Sold to 
  

Wholesaler/Dealer 18 11.2 

Retailer 48 29.8 

Processor 95 59.0 

Nature of marketing 
  

Sellers 125 77.6 

Buyers 36 22.36 

Frequency of purchase 
  

Every 4 days 68 42.2 

Weekly 50 31.1 

Twice monthly 27 16.8 

Monthly 16 9.9 



Osakue et al., American International Journal of Agricultural Studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 

  

17 
 

What affects your sale? 
  

Selling price 53 32.9 

Season 3 1.9 

Quality 62 38.5 

Transportation 8 5.0 

Experience 32 19.9 

Supply 3 1.9 

 
What determines the price at which you sell 

  

Cost price 48 29.8 

Bargaining power 33 20.5 

Demand 2 1.2 

Supply 3 1.9 

Quality  19 11.8 

Market cost 12 7.5 

Trade union 13 8.1 

Season 31 19.3 

What do you use to transport your commodity 
  

Head portage 1 .6 

Wheelbarrow 37 23.0 

Public transport 90 55.9 

Private transport 28 17.4    

Is there a trade union for cassava tuber marketers  
  

No 126 78.3 

Yes 35 21.7 

If yes, do you belong to their association 
  

No 126 78.3 

Yes 35 21.7 

If yes, does the trade union influence marketing and price 
  

No 126 78.3 

Yes 35 21.7 

Is the influence on price subject to changes 
  

No 126 78.3 

Yes 35 21.7 

What do you do to keep and attract customers to buy leftovers 
  

Discount 76 47.2 

Gifts/additional commodity 2 1.2 

Persuasive effort 32 19.9 

Open display  15 9.3 

Personal delivery 36 22.4 

 

 Market Performance 
The market performance of cassava tuber marketing was analysed using marketing efficiency and marketing cost. The 

efficiency analysis (Table 6) shows the marketing efficiency of rural markets to be 576.78% and that of urban markets was 

168.84%. It could be inferred that this higher rural market efficiency than that of the urban markets is because of the lesser 

marketing cost incurred by the rural marketers. The high efficiency ensures a fair amount of return to the marketers and this 

will encourage them to invest more in the business. The higher efficiency of rural markets accounts for the higher returns 

earned by the rural marketers as shown earlier, where mean monthly gross margin of rural marketers was shown to be N29, 

061.4 as against N19, 961.3 for urban marketers. Table 3.3 also shows the marketing cost of rural marketers to be N5, 038.6 

and that of urban marketers to be N11822.3. This implies that for every bag of cassava tuber bought from the rural market 

on the average, about 5% of the price paid by the customers covers the marketing cost and profit of the seller while the 

remaining 95 % goes to the cost of the cassava tuber itself. The same applies for urban markets in that for every bag of 

cassava tuber bought in the urban market, 19% of the price paid covers the marketing cost and profit of the seller while the 

remaining 81% goes for the cost of the cassava tuber. The cost component that accounts for the high marketing cost of urban 

marketers is transportation which constitutes 16.9% of the TVC as shown in table 6. In order to improve the marketing 

efficiency of the urban markets therefore, attempts should be made to cut down on transportation cost. 

 

 Table 6. Analysis of Marketing Efficiency 

 
Variable Mean value for Rural markets (N) Mean value for Urban markets(N) 

Net income 29, 061.4 19, 961.3 

Marketing cost 5, 038.6 11, 822 

Marketing efficiency 576.78% 168.84% 

 

Constraints Faced by Cassava Tuber Marketers in the Study Area 

General constraints faced by cassava tuber marketers in the study area 
From the result shown in Table 7, bad weather (rainfall) is the major constraint faced in marketing cassava tubers in the 

markets selected. This could be attributed to the fact that Edo State is largely characterized with high annual rainfall as 

stated by Godwin et al. (2010) that rainfall is usually of high intensity with double maxima and a dry little spell in August 



Osakue et al., American International Journal of Agricultural Studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 

  

18 
 

usually referred to as “August Break”; With the rainfall amount ranging from 1800 to 2780mm. This could also be attributed 

to the fact that there is no structure for stalls where the marketers stay to sell their commodity which also affects sales. 

 

Table 7. General constraints faced by cassava tuber marketers in the study area 
 

MEAN  RANK  

Bad weather 2.093167702 1st 

Lack of technical know-how 1.770186335 2nd 

Lack of storage facilities 1.757763975 3rd 

Distance to the market 1.732919255 4th 

high cost of transportation 1.726708075 5th 

bad roads 1.714285714 6th 

type transportation means 1.325 7th 

Overload 1.310559006 8th 

low patronage 1.30625 9th 

pest/diseases 1.273291925 10th 

Container 1.204968944 11th 

High cost of storage 1.105590062 12th 

 

Management practices carried out by the marketers to prevent postharvest loss 
Table 8 shows that the most important method to prevent PHL is timed buying (98.1%) due to the highly perishable nature 

of tubers. The table also showed that about half (50.3%) of the marketers did not prefer to sell cheap while the other half 

would rather sell cheaply to prevent loss than to allow complete spoilage; leading to reduced profit margin. Furthermore, 

it is shown that 80.7% of the marketers did not process leftovers because of the stress involved and their lack of modern 

processing facilities.  

 

Table 8. Analysis of management practices carried out by farmers to prevent post-harvest loss 

   HP P NP 
  

Constrain  Frequency % Frequency % Frequency % Mean S.D 

Harvest on demand  76 47.2 7 4.3 78 48.4 1.9876 0.98099 

Leave open for fresh air 
    

161 100.0 1.0000 0.00000 

Leave un-harvested in the ground  81 50.3 2 1.2 78 48.4 2.0186 0.99669 

Process all on purchase 3 1.9 
  

158 98.1 1.0373 0.27130 

Timed Buying 158 98.1 3 1.9 
  

2.9814 0.13565 

Sell Cheap 45 28.0 35 21.7 81 50.3 1.7764 0.85860 

Buy Little 94 58.4 7 4.3 60 37.3 2.2112 0.95793 

Processed leftovers 11 6.8 20 12.4 130 80.7 1.2609 0.57578 

HP = highly preferred, P = preferred, NP = not preferred 

Constraints faced in reducing post-harvest losses 
Table 9 shows that having little money to spend in order to improve their status is a major constraint in preventing losses 

because as shown in Table 9, over half (58.4%) of the marketers prefer to buy less quantity than they would have wanted 

which results in less profit.  

Another constraint faced is lack of modern processing facilities. This further supports the findings of Nzeh and 

Ugwu (2014). As a result of the stress and time involved in processing the tubers locally, the marketers would rather sell 

raw tubers than processed cassava as shown in table 9 where processing of tubers is ranked 7th with 98.1% of the marketers 

not preferring to process. 

 

Table 9. Constraints faced in reducing post-harvest loss 

CONSTRAINT MEAN  RANK  

Little money to spend 2.35 1ST 

Lack of modern processing facilities 1.94375 2ND 

Bad weather 1.9125 3RD 

poor information on quantity demanded 1.20625 4TH 

method to stop spoilage is not working 1.0375 5TH 

 

Source of Information on method of preservation/management 
From table 10, it is shown that the majority (83.9%) of the respondents got to know about the management practices they 

adopted from their fellow marketers while 15.5 % of them got theirs from their relatives and friends and just 0.6 % got to 

know about their chosen method of management from extension agents. This value of 0.6 implies the near absence of the 

activities of extension service agents.  

 

Table 10. Source of Information on method of preservation/management 

Source of information Frequency Percentage 

Fellow marketers 135 83.9 

Extension agents 1 0.6 

Relatives/friends  25 15.5 



Osakue et al., American International Journal of Agricultural Studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 

  

19 
 

CONCLUSIONS  

Cassava tuber marketing is a profitable business for rural and urban marketers in the study area. In recent years, more people 

have gone into the business despite the many challenges and limitations associated with the business. Improved marketing 

and processing conditions will go a long way to encourage participation of more people, even youths, which will in the long 

run lead to increase in per capita income, low unemployment rate and general development of the country at large.  

This study recommends the following: 1. Efforts should be made to eradicate the problem of bad roads which will 

ensure ease of transportation during marketing. 2. Funds should be made available to marketers along with provision for 

infrastructures and credit facilities which should be easily accessible to the marketers by different financial bodies. Loans 

should be given to marketers at a low interest rate to encourage participation. 3. Modern processing and storage facilities 

should be made available to the government to the marketers to encourage value addition and as a result, increase in income. 

4. Cassava tuber marketers in the study area should form cooperative society’s trade unions which will enable them to 

market their commodities at better prices than they would get as individuals. 

 

 
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, M.I.O., C.O.E. and C.O.O.; Methodology, M.I.O., C.O.E. and C.O.O.; Software, M.I.O.; Validation, M.I.O., 

C.O.E. and C.O.O.; Formal Analysis, M.I.O., C.O.E. and C.O.O.; Investigation, M.I.O., C.O.E. and C.O.O.; Resources, M.I.O., C.O.E. and C.O.O.; Data 

Curation, M.I.O.; Writing – Original Draft Preparation, M.I.O., C.O.E. and C.O.O.; Writing – Review & Editing, M.I.O., C.O.E. and C.O.O.; Visualization, 
M.I.O., C.O.E. and C.O.O.; Supervision, C.O.E.; Project Administration, C.O.E.; Funding Acquisition, M.I.O., C.O.E. and C.O.O. Authors have read and 

agreed to the published version of the manuscript. 

Institutional Review Board Statement: Ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable 
groups or sensitive issues. 

Funding: The authors received no direct funding for this research. 

Acknowledgments: Not applicable. 

Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. 

Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available 
due to restrictions. 

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

 

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