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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The quest to achieve self-sufficient food production is one of the highest priority facing most of the world today. Nigeria in particular. This is also a problem that threatens to be worsening all year round. Food in Nigeria is critically depended on transportation distribution, it then become obvious that wide variety of Nigerian food would not be available without the complex transportation network system, which serves as stem food industry. Farm produce therefore depend upon transportation facilities. Based on the above reason, the impact as well as the importance of road transport system should not be over emphasized, especially as regards to agricultural produce. Problems relating to rural inaccessibility have contained to brother the world and in particular Nigeria Agriculture. It is on this note that government and transport policy makers should intensify efforts to improve the transportation system especially in road network which is the main and the most popular mode of transportation in this country. Their collective and/or individual efforts should be directed towards fighting against hunger as well as in providing necessary transportation facilities and services and contribute to the instrument decision in related areas that can help to assume the supply of addition of food and its distribution to customers. Nwokoye (1981)

1.2    STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

In the beginning agriculture and transportation are moving hand in hand. This produce must be reasonably available and when produced must be distributed to ports and factories. Also that adequate transportation and efficient courier services operation are necessary condition the affecting and efficient transportation network and a cornerstone of modern marketing system. Transportation thus serves as a means of moving goods, ideas and information geared towards increased productivity. In Nigeria, road constitute the most important infrastructure and territory of sharp contrast in climate solid and vegetation which hinders agricultural progress.

According to Henry (1985), in some areas, most of the road which are essential for the evacuation of produce from the farmer to the market place are often inaccessible all year round. Most of these feeder roads are unsurfaced, narrow, poorly drained and winding, they prevent easy access to the hinter land where the majority of the farmers are located. Even when such roads are in a fair condition there is a problem of poor maintenance, lack of adequate execution capacity, lack of suitable materials and management problems. All these factors attributed to the low agricultural produce in Igbo-Etiti. If agriculture will respond to the growing demand of the rural populace then it will be necessary to include a good rural structure with road network to reduce the cost of flow of agricultural commodities, information and all sorts for rural services to enable it contribute meaningfully to the general economic growth. This will help to accommodate the increase traffic flow of input and output moving from rural areas to urban centers, which will involve extra addition of maintaining rural road network.  

1.3    OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

This includes:

(a)   To identify those factors that all directly and indirectly related to the marketing of agricultural produce and to what extent they have contributed to the use and fall of agricultural produce.

(b)  To determine the extent which road transport system has affected the marketing of agricultural produce in Igbo-Etiti local government area.

(c) To offer useful recommendation with a view to making the marketing of agricultural produce in Igbo-Etiti more successful and effective.

(d) To determine the effect of road network in the marketing of agricultural producse in Igbo-Etiti.

(e) To determine the primitive use of farm tools to produce staple crops in large quantities that can be transported to other parts of the local government area.  

1.4   STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS

Based on the stated objectives, this study will seek to base the impact of transportation on the marketing of agricultural produce with the following marketing mix variables which includes product, price, place (distribution) promotion.

Hypothesis 1

Ho: The high cost of transportation affects the prices of agricultural produce.

Hi: The high cost of transportation does not affect the price of agricultural produce in Igbo-Etiti.   

Hypothesis 2

Ho: The perishable nature of agricultural produce affect the marketing of agricultural produce in Igbo-Etiti local government area.

Hi: The perishable nature of agriculture produce does not affect the marketing of agricultural produce in Igbo-Etiti local government.      

1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Increased interest in this study is due partly to the gainful and developmental input which agriculture can make to the economy and most importantly to the tremendous impact of transportation infrastructure on regional economics. This is because transport and development as well as agriculture are usually regarded as closely related since each of them influences the fortunes or the rate of growths of the other.  The significance of this study is further highlighted. Considering that in Nigeria, road is the only mode of transport by which all the states of the federation are linked especially with regard to the movement and distribution of agricultural produce from various rural areas of production to the different urban areas of the state for consumption.  Finally, the study shall also serve as a stimulant or reference guide for further research in this area especially in the era of population explosion and impending food storage.      

1.6    SCOPE OF THE STUDY

In Enugu state most of the agricultural produce like (yam, rice, garri, cassava, tomatoes, pepper) and so on are produced in the villages located in remote towns. Because of differences in ecological factors such as climate, soil texture, topography and so on. Some villages produce more or several types of agricultural produce than other. Taking cognizance of the fact the study covers gbo-Etiti.

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