Abstract: vii ABSTRACT Before the deregulation of the economy in 1986 which was an element of structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), the prices of scheduled commodities such as groundnut were fixed by the Federal Government on the advice of the technical committee on producer prices. After the deregulation of the economy, however, the Nigerian agricultural marketing system for cash crops was left in the hands of private traders.
The objectives of this study were to determine the profitability of groundnut production to the farmer under this deregulated marketing system, to study the system of groundnut marketing before and during SAP period and to determine whether the present marketing system is monopolistic or competitive. Other objectives were to compare the marketing margin and marketing efficiency among the three local government areas of study and to identify, the problems, if any affecting the new marketing system. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, gross margin analysis, marketing margin analysis, marketing efficiency and Gini coefficient analysis. The study found that farmers got reasonable level of profit in the groundnut production. Also prices were determined by forces of supply and demand in the free market economy as against the fixed price system before the deregulation of the economy. viii There was element of domination by small groups of sellers over the majority for both whole-sale and retail markets but with more domination in the whole-sale market. Farmers were found to have reasonable share of what the final consumer paid for their commodities. The deregulation of the economy has exposed both farmers and merchants to some marketing problems such as transportation, storage, lack of marketing information and large numbers of middlemen and buying agents..............ORDER FOR COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL NOW!! .
