Economics of pineapple marketing in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analysed the economics of pineapple marketing for entrepreneurial utilization in Anambra State Nigeria. Data for the study were collected from 104 respondents which comprised of 40 retailers and 64 wholesalers randomly sampled from eight markets of the study area (4 markets from each of the two cities). The markets are Main market, Ose, Ochanja and bridge-head market areas were selected from Onitsha commercial city while Eke, Nkwo Amaenyi, Aroma junction and Nnamdi Azikwe University(UNIZIK) temporary site market areas were chosen from Awka Capital city. The markets were purposively selected because they are where higher concentration of middlemen in pineapple business are commonly found in the cities. Descriptive statistics and gross margin analysis were used in data analysis. The study inter alia revealed that the majority (62%) of pineapple consumed in the study area were sourced by the middlemen from outside Anambra State, showing that the state is not self-sufficient in the crop's production. Respective return on investment made by the wholesalers and retailers were (0.23 and 0.32) indicating that the trade on the crop is profitable. It was further revealed that high transportation cost and lack of fund to increase business scale were the main constraints of the pineapple traders. The study concluded that investment opportunities exist on the crop's market, production and processing and therefore recommends that the potential traders and entrepreneurs should exploit the crop's business potentials.