ANALYSIS OF SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS INFLUENCING EFFICIENCY OF YAM MARKETING IN SOUTHERN TARABA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract This study analyzed the effect of socioeconomic variables on marketing efficiency of yam marketers in Southern Taraba State, Nigeria. Data were collected using questionnaire administered to 168 respondents from the sample frame of the markets. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression. The study revealed that 67.84% of the marketers are male with mean age of 42 years. Majority (64.88%) are married with mean household size of 4 persons. It also revealed that 42.86% of yam marketers had below 10 years marketing experiences with mean experience of 13 years. The marketing efficiency was 635.60%, implying that the marketers recovered the marketing costs and margin above 100%. Precision of the model that analyzes the factors influencing yam marketing efficiency showed that the variable in the model accounts for 88.1% of the variations observed. The variables influencing marketing efficiency of the respondents in the area were: age (5%), marital status (1%), household size (1%), education (10%), marketing experience (1%), cooperative (1%) and main occupation (10%). Keywords: Analysis, Socioeconomic, Factors, Efficiency, Yam, Marketing