Udeh Monica
The study was to conduct economic analysis of soya beans marketing in Benue State, Nigeria. A sampling frame of 914 registered soya beans marketers was obtained from soybeans marketers association in the study area. A stratified random sampling technique was employed to obtain 278 market actors (producer-marketers, wholesalers and retailers) for the study. Data were collected with the use of a well-structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result from the analysis revealed that majority (77.3 %) of the actors were male with a mean age of 44 years, had market experience of 6-10 years (52.3 %), literate (89.6 %) with a mean household size of 7 persons, and a mean annual income of N192,241.16. The study found a gross margin of N11, 661.15, N12, 714.18 and N13, 566.32 for producer-marketers, retailers and wholesalers respectively. The major problems faced by soya beans marketers in the study area include inadequate capital, high transportation cost, lack of access to credit facilities, heavy imposition of taxes or levies and poor storage and warehousing facilities. It was recommended that soya beans marketers in the study area should form cooperative society to have access to loan from both formal and informal sources for better capital base and higher output. In conclusion soya beans marketing are a profitable and efficient business, with attractive net return on investment in the study area.
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