Economic Implications of Marketing Structure of Banana and Plantain Fruits for the Development of Rural Communities in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

There is increase in the level of purchase and consumption of banana and plantain due to their nutritional requirements. This led to increase in the number of market dealers on banana and plantain. Therefore, the study assessed the marketing channel and structure of banana and plantain in Enugu State, Nigeria. Adopting a descriptive survey design, copies of the instrument were administered to 160 banana and plantain sellers. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Gini co-efficient. The results showed that majority of the respondents were married females who attained primary education. Majority of the wholesalers obtained their products directly from farmers while 71.80% of the retailers obtained from the wholesalers. The results of the Gini co-efficient for banana and plantain sellers showed low levels of inequitable distribution of income among them. However, inequalities existed more at retail level than at the wholesale level. Recommendations included that international donor should provide links between prospective banana and plantain farmers, policy makers and researchers to identify and analyze new ways of encouraging the market for mutual co-operation and structure for an effective banana and plantain marketing system.