ECONOMICS OF COTTON MARKETING IN ZAMFARA STATE, NIGERIA

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INTRODUCTION
Cotton has relatively long history in Nigeria dating back to many centuries before the advent of Europeans. The crop has been traditionally associated with weaving and spinning industries. It is a major cash crop grown mainly in the northern states of Nigeria; it provides employment and raw materials for textile industries and up till the states producing about 30-35%. Thirdly, the southern zone producing less than 5% of the total cotton production in the country is made up of areas of Benue, Kogi, Kwara and Niger States. Length of the rainy season varies within the zones, with the northern zone having 120 rainy days, the eastern zone having 150 -180 rainy days and the southern zone having between 190-210 days (Ajanya, 1992). Alam et al. (2013) asserted that cotton remains by far the most important natural fibre. It represents 38% of the fibre market. Cotton is crucially important for income, raw materials and employment provided its production and processing is adequate.
In Nigeria, prior to oil boom, cotton was one of the main sourcesof foreign exchange and second largest employer of labour after the public sector (Njoku, 2010).
Since the abolition of the commodity boards in 1986 by the federal government, the marketing of cotton is being controlled by private individuals and companies as such, producer price is determined by the forces of demand and supply. This has caused great concern in the textile cotton fibre supply situation in the local market and export profile in the country thereby having a declining effect in its contribution to the agricultural economy of the country. The Raw Material Research Development Council (RMRDC, 2004) reported that against a total demand of about 80,000 MT of lint per annum (240,000 MT of seed cotton) by textile mills, the total production of lint has been less, thus resulting in a gap between demand and supply. It is expected that this gap will widen further as the steps taken by the government to revive the textile industry may lead to increase in capacity utilization, thus resulting in higher demand for cotton. The phenomenon was clearly revealed by the fact that most ginneries across the country have to operate below capacity. This claim was substantiated by Adesina (2012) who asserted that, the industries contribution to the value addition of cotton has dropped significantly from 25% in 1980 to 5% presently. He said out of 51 ginneries in operation in the 80s, only 10 ginneries are currently functional at low capacity. In addition, inadequate production of local textile and fabric materials has led to importation to satisfy the domestic demand thereby reducing the foreign exchange reserve portfolio of the country.
The deregulation of cotton market was a major reform policy which sought to reduce distortions in the structure of the market through reduction in government intervention (Onu & Okunmadewa, 2008).
The increasing demand for cotton lint and seed to make the textile and oil processing industries sustainable led the research to examine the circumstances of cotton marketing in Gusau LGA of Zamfara state and also examine factors that will lead to improvement in the marketing of the crop. It was important to identify and examine socio economic attributes of cotton marketers. The study examined marketing constraints, as well as determining the profitability of marketing cotton. This is to provide insight into proper predictions and forecasts into the future of cotton marketing so as to enhance better planning and investments. This will enhance formulation of relevant policy, assist marketers and improve growth in this sub-sector. Zamfara state is the location of this study whose objectives were to: 1). identify the socio-economic characteristics of cotton marketers in the study area; 2). determine the profitability of cotton marketing; and 3). assess the constraints faced by cotton marketers in the study area.

The Study Area
Gusau is a local government area located in Zamfara State, North Western were randomly selected.

Sampling Procedure
Simple random sampling was also used to select 10 marketers from each of the selected wards, making a total of 80 cotton marketers.

Method of Data Collection
Data were obtained from primary source using questionnaire and interviews with respondents.

Method of Data Analysis
Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; percentages and means and gross margin analysis was used to determine the profitability of cotton marketing in Gusau.
The gross margin analysis is mathematically expressed as:

Socio-economic Characteristics of Cotton Marketers
The socio-economic factors considered in this study include; age, sex, marital status, household size, educational level and years of experience. The result of the study as presented in Table 1shows Table 2 shows that average acquisition cost of 1 bale (182kg) of cotton from the sampled cotton marketers in Gusau was N5,135:00, other variable costs incurred on each bale included; transportation N100:00, bags for packaging N100, packaging N100, loading and offloading N60 and tax N40 per bale, making a total of N5,535:00. A bale (182kg) of cotton was sold at N15, 00:00. The Gross margin was calculated to be N535:00 per bag. Return per Naira invested was N1.04. This is in line with the findings of Kudi et al. (2007) and Alam et al. (2013) reported that cotton production, marketing and processing are profitable ventures.

Constraints for Cotton Marketers in Gusau LGA
The challenges confronting cotton marketers in the study area as indicated in table 3, were price fluctuation, ranking 1st with 40%, followed by inadequate and high costs of inputs (38.7%), while transportation costs ranked 3rd with 23.7%, this in line with the findings of Alam et al. (2013) who reported high cost of inputs as a major constraint in cotton production. Other constraints were inadequate supply, insufficient capital and inadequate market stalls, ranking 4th, 5th and 6th, respectively.

Marketing of cotton in Gusau
LGA is a male dominated venture. The cotton farmers are major stakeholders in its marketing, as more than 70% of purchases in the study area are made at farm gate or farmers' compound. All purchases made were sold to commission agents. Cotton marketing is a profitable venture, although price fluctuation is a major constraint. The following recommendations were made: 1. For efficient marketing of cotton in the study area, the constraints faced by marketers must be drastically reduced to the barest minimum. This can be done through efficient policy for establishment of price stability, thereby making the price standard, proper supervision of cotton marketing, marketing programmes, effective extension services and proper agricultural finance that will boost income and help alleviate poverty. 2. Formation of farmers' cooperatives will help them stabilize and regulate marketing activities, and also give better access to convenient and suitable storage facilities that reduce deterioration and damage of product.
3. On the issue of insufficient capital, marketers need to be educated on how to plan and run their businesses efficiently based on the available capital.