ABSTRACT
This study examined the marketing
of poultry feeds in Anambra State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to:
describe the socio-economic characteristics of the poultry feeds marketers;
identify and describe the marketing channels for poultry feeds; describe the
promotional activities adopted by these poultry feed marketers; assess the
degree of market concentration among wholesalers and retailers of poultry
feeds; determine the marketing margins for poultry feeds at wholesale and
retail levels and ascertain the factors that determine the selling price by the
marketers of poultry feeds. The study was guided by the null hypothesis: There
is no difference in the marketing margins of wholesalers and retailers of
poultry feeds. A survey design was adopted in the study. Data for the study
were collected from a sample of 120 marketers through the use of two sets of
structured and pre-tested questionnaire. The data were presented using
descriptive statistics while Gini coefficient, marketing margins and multiple regression
were used for the analysis. The study showed that males (63.3%) dominated
wholesaling, while females (55%) dominated retail marketing business of poultry
feeds. About 70-75% of them were within the highly productive age range of
20-50 years. About 11.7% of the retail marketers attended primary school while
43.3% and 45% attended secondary and higher institutions, respectively.
Majority (86.7%) of the wholesalers bought directly from producers (feed
millers) while 13.3% bought from other wholesalers. Most (95%) of the retailers
made their purchases through the wholesalers. Marketers purchased poultry feed
products packaged in bags of 25kg weight and distributed same using the same
packaging from the producers. Some retailers also sold in producers’ packaging
and /or smaller measurement. Majority (88.3%) of the wholesalers obtained
information on source of supply through personal contact from others in the
same trade or suppliers’ agents. There was poor marketing information as new
product introduction strategy was also done by personal contact and price
reduction. Popular means of advertisement like radio, television and newspapers
were not very common. Only about 5% of the marketers were influenced through
the mass media. There were high inequalities in sales distribution as well as
income among the marketers as Gini coefficient values of 0.46 and 0.57 were
obtained for wholesalers and retailers, respectively. The mean marketing margin
of N138/25kg bag or 6% for wholesalers was higher than the mean value of
N105/25kg bag or 4% for retailers. There existed a significant (p<0.05)
positive correlation among the selling price, buying price and salary of sales
clerk for wholesale price. Loading/offloading cost and promotional costs
exhibited significant (p<0.05) negative correlation with the wholesale
selling price. Analysis of the factors that affected the retail selling price
showed that there existed a significant (p<0.05) positive correlation among
selling price and transportation costs. Salary of sales clerk exhibited a
significant (p<0.05) negative correlation with the retail selling price.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information
The
role of agriculture in the country’s economy cannot be over-emphasized. Prior
to the oil boom period in the mid-1970’s, it had been the largest foreign
exchange earner for the country. It has evolved from just a means of livelihood
to a business for not only are modern techniques of production employed, but
also the most sophisticated management and marketing techniques. Agriculture
therefore is a wide discipline and poultry keeping is just one industry in the
agricultural set-up (Okafor, 1984).
The
main domesticated avians contributing in one way or the other to the economy of
Nigeria are the domestic fowl, guinea fowls, turkeys, ducks, geese, pheasants
and pigeons. The usefulness of these species are many and there are little or
no religious, cultural and social barriers or prejudices to their rearing or
use of their parts and products in Nigeria (Izunobi, 2002).
The
level of animal protein intake in Nigeria represents only about 10% of the
intake in countries like Denmark, U.S.A., New Zealand and the United Kingdom
(Akin, 1976). According to Izunobi (2002), of the protein intake in Nigeria,
poultry meat supplies only about 20% of the total meat needs of Nigerians. This
is grossly inadequate.
Chicken
contains quality proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, multitude of vitamins,
minerals and pigments. They also possess natural aroma and flavor compounds.
Eggs are excellent food, possessing quality proteins of high biological values
(Izunobi, 2002). Egg, a product of the industry, gives about 3.5g of the total
7.2g animal protein required for individual dietary need per day (Adene and
Oguntade,, 2006).
The poultry industry
provides employment opportunity for the teeming population. The industry, if
desired attention is paid to it by government at all levels, can successfully
absorb a large number of unemployed youths across the country, currently roaming about
in search of unavailable jobs, through its chain of agro-allied industry;
commercial feed and toll milling, poultry products processing,
poultry-marketing, veterinary pharmaceutical, hatchery operation and breeder
farming (Eko, 2009). In addition, the industry, if properly harnessed, can also
serve as source of foreign earnings, complementing the crude oil – the main
source of foreign earnings presently which is responsible for over 90 percent
of our exports. (Adene and Oguntade, 2006).
According
to Ali (2011), since 1986, Nigeria’s import ban on corn has contributed to
steady decline in poultry production. He also observed that Nigerian poultry
market had seen prosperous times. For two decades after the country achieved
independence in 1960, poultry production grew, peaking in 1982 with 40 million
commercially reared birds. Since then, he also stated, the population of birds
dipped steadily reaching an estimated low rate of 6 million in 1997.
Furthermore, Ali added that since production figures for poultry were not
maintained by the government, the only way to estimate the number was by the
amount of feed sold. In 1997, an estimated 225,000 metric tonnes of commercial
poultry feed was sold in the Nigerian market down from 250,000 tonnes in 1995.
The feed milling industry in Nigeria is only producing at about 15 percent of
capacity (Ali, 2011). This faltering market can be traced back to the early
1980’s, when the Nigerian economy collapsed. An unstable government import bans
and intervention efforts by the World Bank caused price realignments that
weakened purchasing power and pushed up the cost of poultry inputs and
products.
Poultry
feeds are animal feed used to feed poultry birds. They are formulated from a
mixture of ingredients, including cereal grains, cereal by-products, fats,
plant protein sources, animal protein sources and by-products, vitamin and
mineral supplements, crystalline amino acids and feed additives compounded in
such a way as to provide essential nutrients for sustaining optimum growth and
production. Poultry feed is a poultry input and its demand is derived from the
demand for the poultry and/or its products. Poultry feeds are......
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