Marketing of hooves and horns in Maiduguri Metropolitan Area of Borno State, Nigeria.

摘要

Livestock by-product marketing is an important economic activity that provides an additional employment for Nigerians. This study examined the marketing of hooves and horns in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Primary data were collected through a questionnaire administered to all the 17 marketers in the area. The data collection lasted two months (August-September) in 2005, with each marketer visited twice and interviewed using the same questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the socio-economic characteristics of the marketers as well as the problems associated with marketing. Gross margin analysis was used to determine the profitability, while Ginni coefficient was used to determine the market concentration. The results show that all the marketers were male and none of them attended tertiary education. The gross margin analysis shows that hoof and horn marketing was profitable, with a gross margin of Naira 5.320 per marketer per week. The concentration of sellers is low, with a Ginni coefficient of 0.351. The market is thus oligopolistic in nature. The problems associated with marketing include low supply and low profit. It is recommended that poverty alleviation strategies be geared towards improving the purchasing power of people in the area, which will go a long way in increasing the demand for livestock meat and hence increasing the supply of hooves and horns and improving the structure of the market.