Assessment of Cattle Marketing Channels and Price Determination in Borno State

This study assesses cattle marketing channels, price determination mechanisms, and marketing margins along cattle value chains in Borno State, North East Nigeria. Borno State is one of Nigeria's most important cattle producing and marketing states, with livestock contributing significantly to household income for both pastoral and settled farming communities. The disruption caused by the Boko Haram insurgency has affected livestock marketing systems, and understanding current market structures is important for recovery planning. This study uses a survey design, collecting data from 80 cattle producers, 30 market traders, 20 cattle dealers, and 10 abattoir operators in Maiduguri, Bama, and Konduga local government areas. Marketing chain mapping, price transmission analysis, and marketing margin computation are conducted. Findings reveal that cattle move through an average of 2.8 market intermediaries between producer and final consumer, with producer receipt of final consumer price averaging only 52 percent. Market assembly at village markets, wholesale Maiduguri main market, and abattoir are the three primary chain nodes. Price determination is dominated by trader-controlled assemblage markets with limited price discovery mechanisms available to producers. Security concerns impose significant transaction costs, with producers accepting lower prices to avoid inter-state transport risks. Marketing margins are concentrated in the wholesale segment. The study concludes that excessive market intermediation and security-related transaction costs are reducing cattle producer returns in Borno State. It recommends mobile phone-based price information systems and producer cooperative marketing to improve price transparency and bargaining power.

Keywords: cattle marketing, price determination, Borno State, marketing margins, value chain.