Abstract

The importance of cassava to the livelihoods of many millions of poor people has made the commodity a target for interventions. The potential of the crop is large because it offers the cheap source of food calories and the highest yield per unit area. It also has multiple roles as famine reserve, food and cash crop, industrial raw material and livestock feed. The objectives of this paper were to describe the traditional cassava trade networks involving the rural (supply) and urban (demand) markets, assess the degree of market integration for traditional cassava products and suggest policy approaches to increase market efficiency. The data was collected in 60 urban markets that were surveyed. About 500 rural markets were also surveyed with key information on the movement of different cassava commodities from the rural market to each urban destination (demand) market. Market integration between rural supply and one urban demand market for the cassava-based products of gari and chips were analyzed. The results showed that eight cassava-based products are traded in two basic (dry and wet) forms in Nigeria. The Kano-Katsina-Maradi axis is a major cassava cross border trade route in West Africa. Gari and chips (flour) are the most important products traded across borders. Improving local cassava production in the south and central regions of Nigeria will therefore help create wealth and also help to reduce risks arising from cyclical drought in the Sahelian countries. The price system can be expected to respond to exogenous shocks and return to equilibrium but market information is not efficient in traditional cassava products markets. A dual policy approach is therefore recommended to encourage additional cassava production for industrial purposes and at the same time support existing smallholder production systems through the introduction of improved inputs.

Key words: Market efficiency, market channels, agriculture, price system.