Profitability of Trade in Moringa oleifera (LAM) Fresh Leaves in Taraba State, Nigeria

This study investigates the profitability of trade in Moringa oleifera (Lam) Fresh Leaves and also examine the Socio-economic characteristics of Traders in Taraba State, between June, 2018 and May, 2019. Applying a multistage Sampling approach, 342 and 97 traders were randomly selected and administered with questionnaire in the wet and dry seasons respectively, to elicit data, which were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results on the socio-economic variables showed that female traders (94.7%), age class 31-40 (36.3%), Married (65.5%), Household size of 8 members and above (69.6%) and non-formal education (51.8%) featured dominantly in moringa fresh leaves trade. Furthermore, Gross Margin (GM) analysis showed that the monthly income from Moringa oleifera (Lam) fresh leaves was highest (N372.50 ± 125.15) in Ibi Local Government Area (LGA), while Bali LGA had the least GM of (N 88.83 ± 91.40) in the wet season. In the dry season, Gashaka LGA had the highest GM of N 228.00 (± 78.55), while Jalingo LGA was the least with GM of N 57.50 (± 86.68). The comparison of GM and Quantity of leaves sold (QLS) in the dry and rainy seasons were not significantly different. The Rate of Returns on Investment (RORI), Gross Margin Index (GMI) and Unit Price (UP) in the rainy and dry seasons were significantly at 0.05 level of probability. It is therefore recommended that Government and Non-government organisations (NGOs) should educate the traders on the marketing of Moringa oleifera leaves; Government and NGOs should also make loans available at one-digit rate; Government should put in place a security outfit to curtail the incessant crisis in Taraba; and traders should form cooperative society to access loans with the Bank of Industry through the Anchor Borrower scheme.