Effect of Marketing Cost on Marketing Margin Realizable from Beef Sales in Benin City, Nigeria

Aims: There has been a continuous problem of price and sales volume fluctuation over the years as a result of marketing inefficiencies which has led to short supply of beef and beef products as well as a threat to the livelihood of families that depend on beef business for survival. The short fall in supply of cattle has often been linked to the high cost of cattle marketing. This study therefore focused on the analysis of factors that determine the marketing margin realizable from beef marketing in Benin City Metropolis.

Study Design: A simple random sampling method was used in selecting 120 respondents from the sampling frame of the registered butchers in Benin. Half of this (60) were selected from the main abattoir while the remaining (60) were selected from the other slaughtering slabs and markets to give a total of 120 respondents.

Place and Duration of Study: Benin City Metropolis, South-South Nigeria, between March and July 2011.

Methodology: The primary data used in this study were generated from the random sampling of 120 respondents, through the administration of well structured questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, tables and multiple regression analysis.

Results: Results from the study showed that majority of the marketers were married (85%), fairly educated with good marketing experience and still in their active age of production (87.5% were within the age bracket of 30-39 years). Result of the regression analysis indicated that marketing cost (packaging, handling, processing, and transportation costs) explained about 91% of the systematic variation in the marketing margin realized from beef marketing in the study area. It was also shown that unavailability of credit facilities, high cost of transportation, high marketing charges and perishability of beef were the most serious constraints faced by the marketers.

Conclusion: The study concluded that steps must be taken to ensure the survival of the beef marketing sub-sector of the economy. It therefore recommended the provision of mobile cold rooms at rentable costs for improved transportation and hence, reduced perishability of beef. This would go a long way in sustaining the business of beef marketing in the study area.