Economic Analysis of Snail Marketing in Ibadan North East Local Government Area Oyo State, Nigeria

This paper reports findings from a study carried out to investigate the profitability of snail marketing in Ibadan North East Local Government area of Oyo State. Structured questionnaires and interview schedules were designed to obtain information on socio-economic characteristics, operational capital and source, years of experience in the business and constraints to snail marketing. Seventy snail marketers, randomly selected from three major markets which are Oje, Agodi gate and Agugu market;. The data collected were analyzed using frequency table, percentage, gross margin, Benefit/ Cost ratio and Marketing Efficiency analyses. Majority (94.3%) of the respondents were female while 5.7% were male. 31.5% were between the ages of 51-60years with mean age of 54.9 years. It was also shown that 50% source their capital through personal savings between N11,000-N20,000 and 47.1% with 5-9years experience. The cost and return analysis revealed that total revenue was N1, 457,700.00k and total cost was N1, 285,320.00k while gross margin    was N172, 380.00k and benefit- cost ratio was 1.13 which implies that for every N1.00 invested the marketer will make a return of N1.13k on every snail sold, Marketing efficiency was 88%. Major constraints to snail marketing in the study area were poor market patronage (87.1%) and seasonality (82.9%). Snail farming is advocated since it is a profitable agribusiness and can be achieved through cooperatives and micro credit facilities. Also, marketing of snail in the area    should be restructured and standardized to command frequent patronage and command higher price value.