Profitability of Sweet Potato (Ipeoma batatas) Marketing in Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria

Abstract

Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas(L.) Lam.] plays a significant role in ensuring food security and incomes for local communities, Hence, the objective of this paper was to assess the Profitability of Sweet Potato (Ipeoma batatas) Marketing in Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria using 116 respondents from the three markets studied (Magama-Gumau, Tilde-Fulani, and Toro) using structured questionnaires. The findings of the study revealed that sweet potato marketing was profitable with a gross margin of N67.14/kg and a return on investment of 17 kobo for every Naira invested. The marketing efficiency was 86%. Five factors were found to be statistically significant in affecting sweet potato profitability. The quality of product, selling price, storage costs, and years of experience were positive and statistically significant (p<0.01). The cost of purchasing sweet potato was negative and statistically significant (p<0.05). Inadequate and high cost of burrowing was ranked first among the eight challenges of sweet potato marketing in the area. The study recommended among others that, the government and lending institutions should develop more policies and conditions that are burrower-friendly to enable marketers easily access marketing credit.

Keywords

• Challenges; Marketing efficiency; Profitability; Return-on-investment; Sweet potato