Economic Analysis of Snail Marketing in Abia State, Nigeria

The study assessed the economic analysis of snail marketing in Abia state, Nigeria. The study specifically described socio-economic characteristics of the snail marketers, ascertained the cost and returns, and identified the constraints in snail marketing. Purposive and sampling were used to select 50 snail marketers for the study. Primary data were collected by means of a questionnaire. Statistical tools including frequency counts, percentages, means, ranking, cost and return and Likert scale were deployed for data analysis. Majorities (56%) of the marketers were females, 60% were married, and 60% had between 6-10 years marketing experience. The mean net marketing income of N5048 and N8200 was obtained by wholesalers and retailers respectively, the net return on investment was 0.87 wholesalers and 1.8 for retailers. Most commonly used marketing channel by respondents was producer-retailer-consumer. The most serious constraint on marketing was a high cost of snail, lack of capital and high transport cost. The marketers in the study area should be encouraged by a provision of social amenities improved technologies, financial assistance production, and marketing of snails.