Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice

A study was conducted on the cost-benefit analysis of garri processing and marketing in Benue State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of garri processors and marketers; determine the profitability of garri processors and marketers, and examine the marketing efficiency of respondents in the study area. A multistage sampling technique was used to select respondents, and primary data from 318 garri processors and 231 garri marketers were collected through structured questionnaires. Analytical tools included descriptive statistics, net income models, and Shepherd’s marketing efficiency index. Findings from the study, observed from the socioeconomic profiling, revealed that the majority of the respondents were aged 36-45 years (34.89%), female-dominated (58.83%), married (52.38%), and secondary school educated (48.63%), with a mean household size of 5.3 persons and 8.6 years of enterprise experience. Crucially, institutional support was low, as only 38.25% belong to cooperatives and a mere 7.47% accessed credit. The economic evaluations established that both enterprises are highly profitable with result of the gross margin of ₦48,674.74, net return of ₦46,281.88 benefit cost ratio of 1.93, and rate of return on investment of 93.50% recorded for processors, while marketing margin of ₦8,675.85, net return of ₦429,456.48, rate of return on investment of 1794%, benefit cost ratio of 18.94 for marketers. The overall marketing efficiency index was 17.94, structurally driven by the fact that 82.52% of marketers bypass intermediaries to source directly from processors. However, economies of scale significantly favoured wholesalers with a marketing efficiency of 18.30 over retailers with a marketing efficiency of 12.74. The major institutional constraints identified included high transportation costs, poor access to formal finance and inadequate processing infrastructure. The study concludes that despite the high profitability and structural efficiency of the garri networks, the value chain remains sub-optimised. Optimising the allocative efficiency of this high-yielding value chain requires urgent policy interventions targeted at expanding formal agricultural credit lines, upgrading rural feeder roads, and transitioning to mechanised processing methods.