AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS MARKETING PROBLEMS AND FOOD SECURITY IN NIGERIA: THE STUDY OF IRISH POTATO MARKETING IN PLATEAU STATE.

Abstract

This paper looks at the problem of food marketing as a necessary ingredient in achieving food security in Nigeria, using Irish Potato marketing in plateau State as a case study. To achieve this objective, primary data was collected during the 2011 farming season from two hundred food marketers consisting of sixty wholesalers and one hundred and forty retailers spread across six local government areas of the state, data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that middlemen make more returns compared to farmers’ returns and that insecurity of lives and property arising from religious crises in the study area has the highest negative effects on food marketing. Hence, the paper calls for government intervention, the organized private sector and other capable individuals to assist in finding lasting solution to the problems identified in the study so as to assist Nigeria achieve the vision of food security.