CHAPTER THREE

3.0 METHODOLOGY

3.1 The Study Area

The study was conducted in Bauchi local government area (L G A) bauchi state Nigeria. The
local government area is located in the Sudan savannah ecological zone. It is situated between
latitude 10° .20N and longitude 10° .10E.The area has a population of 493730 (NPC, 2006).
About 70-80 0f the population engages in peasant farming. There are two marked season in the
state the dry windy season and the wet season which start soon after harvesting of the rain fed
crop between November to December. Agriculture is one of the activity in the area. The
agricultural activities can be categorized into crop production activities and animal
husbandry.The market where randomly selected in the rural areas which includes Dan Dango,
bayara, tashan mai alewa and marraba and in the urban areas include central market, railway
market, yelwan tudu market, and wunti market.

Cowpea is an important source of plant protein in Nigeria and also in Bauchi state. It is the most
important economically and nutritional indigenous legume crop especially in Nigeria. Cowpea is
rich in protein and constitute a staple food for people in rural and urban areas (Baributsa et,
2010). Economically, cowpea has a great value in the internal trade of the county because it
promotes trade between the production areas and non-producing areas. It also serves as a source
of income for middle who embark on transportation from one place to another. However, the
challenge that market face is to satisfy consumer want and reasonable profit level and in socially
acceptable manner. (Kotler 1990).

3.2 Sampling procedures:

Two stage sampling procedures was used to select the respondents for the study. The first stage
involves the purposive selection of four markets in the in the rural area which include dan dango,
bayara, tashan mai alewa, and marraba and in the urban areas including central market, railway,
wunti and yelwan tudu. Prominent for cowpea marketing in the study area. The second stage
involves random selection of 10 markets from each market making respondents for the study.

I. Method of data collection

Primary data was used for the study. Data were collected through the use of questionnaires. The
structured questionnaire was administered to the respondent to generate information on the
marketer socio economic characteristics such as the marital status,age, gender, educational
status, years in the business and constraint face by famers.
3.3 Analytical techniques

The analytical study employs for the study include descriptive statistics, Market margin, market
efficiency and also the error correction model were also used.

3.3.1 Descriptive statistics

Descriptive statistics such as mean percentage and frequency distribution table were used to
examine the socio-economics characteristics of cowpea marketers and the problems encountered
in cowpea marketing. This was used to achieve I and IV.

3.3.2 Marketing margin

The marketing margin was employed as an indicator to the differences in prices paid for a
commodity at different stages of the marketing system. It satisfy objective 3.

RP−PP
M .M= ×100 %
RP
Where MM= marketing margin
RP= Resell price
PP= Purchase price

3.3.3 Marketing efficiency

Efficiency in the agricultural industry is the most frequently used measure of market
performance. The movement of goods from the producers to the ultimate consumers at the
lowest possible cost consistent with the provision of services desired by the consumer is termed
as market efficiency.

RP −PP
M . E= ×100 %
TMC
Where M.E = marketing efficiency
RP = Resell price
PP = Purchase price
TMC = total marketing costs
Regression model

The regression model was used to examine the factors influencing marketing margin of price
variation of selected food grains under studies in the study area, following Afolami (2000). This
was used to achieve objective (III) of the study.

The model was specified as

pt =a+BT +U t

Where Pt = price per kg of selected food grains under study at time.

T = Trent variable for month which was serially numbered as 1 2 3 4 starting from
the month with the lowest index number.

Αβ are the intercept and the slope parameter of the model. And

U = Error term.

Price cost per ton/month for selected food grains were estimated from the primary total to be
collected. The average price cost that were obtain from the 8 eight selected market in the study
area were compare with the price rise per month estimated from the equation above.