The study was centred on the comparative analysis of plantain and banana marketing in the Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 126 plantain and banana marketers whom were selected using a simple random sampling technique from seven purposively-selected markets in the study area. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, a gross margin model, and the t-test. The findings showed that plantain and banana marketers were 100% female, that is only females were identified in the trade; 51.6% and 56.3% of these plantain and banana marketers had mean ages of 40.8 years and 59.5 years respectively; in addition, the majority of the marketers were married (73.0% and 65.1% respectively). Furthermore, they earned a monthly profit of ₦55,370.42 and ₦47,654.74 respectively, which indicates that both businesses are profitable. Further, the plantain and banana trade shared similar marketing channels, the number of which was four, with the most dominant channel being the one composed of the producer, rural assembler, wholesaler, retailer, and the consumer. The t-test analysis demonstrated that the difference in profit by plantain and banana marketers was statistically significant at the p-value of < 0.05. Unemployed youths in Rivers State should be trained by well-meaning organisations so that they can take up the marketing of plantains/bananas as a means of earning a living due to their profitability.
Many smallholder farmers, particularly those in developing countries do not practice mechanisation such as the use of tractor due to some plethora of issues among which include: lack of demand, problematic supply model and failed mechanisation programmes. Based on the problems associated with smallholder mechanisation and the roles lack of demand played in past mechanisation programmes, this research investigated the characteristics and the challenges of tractor service providers, as well as the analyses of the current demand trends by the sampled smallholder farmers for tractor services, while forecasting the future demand in Delta and Benue States of Nigeria. The study employed a snowball sampling technique to collect field survey data from 20 private tractor service providers (SMEs) and 6 government tractor service providers in four local government areas of Delta and Benue States. Descriptive statistics, weighted mean score and trend analyses were used to interpret the result. The study finds that tractor services provide employment for rural dweller, particularly male; use less of household labour and the majority of those involved own only a tractor. Among the different challenges such as the inability of smallholders to pay a high price, long distance to get mechanic, and the high cost of maintenance/high cost of the spare part; too few qualified tractor mechanics is ranked the most severe challenge. While both SMEs and government tractor service providers face some common challenges, poor maintenance and corruption predominates government tractor services. There has been a constant increase in the demand for tractor services by the smallholder farmers from 2013 to 2016 and the demand is forecast to continue. Based on the different challenges associated with the provision of tractor services to the smallholder, it was suggested that the government should support market driver tractor service provision
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