Thesis Abstract

This study was carried out to analyses the marketing margin for rice among participants in themarketing of rice in Adani Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area. A purposive samplingtechnique was used in the selection of respondents. The study identified and described themarketing of rice in the study area, the participants and their activities in the marketing ofrice. It determined the cost of perfuming the physical functions of transportation, storage,processing and margin accruable to the participants (producers, wholesales and

retailers).

Problems of agricultural marketing were also identified to include productionconditions, transportation and communication, handling packaging and processing,storage and warehousing institutional support input distribution; urban food supplysystem and price stabilization. This work sets out elements which make up an efficientmarketing system to include functions and services, agencies and channels, theenterprises of which they are composed and the institutional framework within whichthey operate. The analytical tools used in this work included descriptive statistics such asfrequency, percentage, mean, rage and market margin analysis. From he results it wasaffirmed that 28% of the producers have no formal education and 5% have HND/B.Sc.

certificates.

The age renege of producer and retailer is between 40 and 50 years andhousehold size of between 6 and 10. Farming and marketing experiences of therespondents ranged from 40-50 years and they were mostly married. It was also found outthat the marketing margin for 50kg bag of milled rice sold in the study area for thevillage merchant is N26, for the retailer N29, for the wholesaler N10, and for theproducer N 68. The study identify source of supply (large numers of very small farms,each operating independently), Igrge number of middlemen, transportation, inadequatestorage and warehousing facilities, forced sales, grading and standardization,adulteration and instability of prices as problems to the participants in the study area.Among the reduction of high cost of processing by provision of machinery andmachinery spare parts, to increase farmers yield, maintenance of rural feeder roads usingthe mill for other purposes like cassava processing and the need proper grading and

standardization.

Thesis Overview