Determinants of Market Orientation among Smallholders Cassava Farmers in Nigeria
Households need surplus output to meet both consumption requirements and market demand. To achieve this, households intuitively produce enough quantities of crops to satisfy these. Only a small proportion of the total output is taken to the more lucrative (but distant) urban markets for sale. This study aimed at analyzing the factors determining smallholder cassava farmer‟s market orientation. Household survey was conducted with a total of one hundred respondents. Descriptive Statistics was used in describing the socio- economic status of farmer households in the study area and Tobit model to identify factors that influenced market orientation. Result revealed that majority of the respondents were male (74%) and had a mean farming experience of 22 years, the average age was 49 years with an average household size of 5. An average of 4.87 acres of land was owned by the farmers while 1.33 acres was allocated to cassava production in the last growing season. Results obtained from econometric analysis revealed that, age (p<0.05; β=0.0027478); education (p<0.05; β =0.0365234); gender (p<0.10; β =0.0661173) and distance (p<0.10; β =0.0083176) significantly influenced market orientation. Policy that would promote formation of rural information bureaus alongside the mobile-telephony systems that are already being piloted by some institutions should be pursued.
