Empirical Analysis of Factors Affecting Smallholder Vegetable Farmers’ Access to Urban Markets in Oyo State, South West Nigeria

Access to urban markets is a critical pathway through which smallholder vegetable farmers in peri-urban Nigeria can capture higher value for their produce and improve household incomes. In Oyo State, significant volumes of vegetables are produced on peri-urban farms surrounding Ibadan, yet structural and institutional barriers limit the degree to which smallholders access premium urban retail and institutional markets. This study empirically analysed factors affecting smallholder vegetable farmers' access to urban markets in Oyo State using data from 205 farmers from four local government areas. Market access was operationalised as a composite index of channel diversity, price realisation, and transaction volume. Ordinary least squares and quantile regression were applied to capture heterogeneous access effects across the farmer distribution. Results showed that road infrastructure quality, mobile phone ownership, group membership, and product quality certification were the strongest positive predictors of urban market access. Women farmers faced significantly lower access levels after controlling for farm and market characteristics, suggesting gender-specific structural barriers. Farmers in the bottom quartile of the market access distribution faced the most severe capital and transport constraints. The study recommends targeted infrastructure investment and gender-sensitive market development programming to improve equity in urban market access for Oyo State vegetable farmers. Keywords: urban market access, vegetable farmers, Oyo State, smallholder, quantile regression.