CONSTRAINTS TO MARKETING OF WATERMELON IN AWKA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The study investigated the constraints to watermelon marketing in Awka south local government area, of Anambra State. The specific objectives of the study were to; identified the socioeconomic characteristics of the watermelon marketers, describe the market structure; estimated the cost and returns of water melon marketing, as well as identified the constraints to watermelon marketing in the study area. Data for the study were collected with a well-structured questionnaire from a cross-section of randomly selected 100 watermelon marketers. The data were analysed with a combination of analytical tools such as descriptive statistics, budgetary technique, and mean threshold from a 5-points Likert scale were used. The study revealed female watermelon marketers (56.0%) who are still in their active age of 45 years dominated the market. Many (38.0%) of which are single and attended secondary school (36.0%). The respondent has gained 10 years of marketing experience; whose household size was 7 people. Their primary occupation was trading (55.0%) and they have to finance their trading through personal savings (58.0%). The study found that majority (66.0%) of the respondents are retailers, who purchase their watermelon from wholesalers (62. 0%). The Gini coefficient value was 0.469. The marketing of watermelon generated a profit of N144,311.82k. The constraints to watermelon marketing are high cost of transportation, seasonality of watermelon, poor storage facility, and high market fees among others. The study therefore recommend that watermelon marketers should engage in cooperative societies for financial aid and for the provision storage facilities for their products to avoid spoilage and loss.