ASSESSMENT OF GOVERNMENT ROLE IN THE GROWTH OF MECHANIZED AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SYSTEM

¹Bello, B. S.; ²Nwokenkwo, B. O.; ³Abdullahi, F. H.; ⁴Ozimede, Elizabeth O. & ⁵Mohammed Amina Doko

^{1,2, &5}Department of Marketing, Federal Polytechnic, Bida

^3&4Department of Business Administration & Management, Federal Polytechnic, Bida

ABSTRACT

Agriculture is the mainstay of many economies, whereby it’s marketing strategies and policies is of great importance in other to achieved positive results of outputs and harness other developmental objectives through its inputs. All over the world, the development of an enduring economy goes hand in hand with agricultural development and it is considered a catalyst for the overall development of any nation.  Developed economists have always assigned the agriculture sector a central place in the development process due to income generated through this sector.  However, the understanding of that role has evolved overtime. The Nigerian Government is said to be committed to the agricultural sector as indicate in various Policy documents. The objective of this study is to determine the extent of which Government play significant role to the growth of agricultural marketing. Questionnaire was the method used in gathering information for this study. After proper analysis of data, it was discovered that Nigeria Government have not played any significant role in the growth of mechanized agricultural marketing system in the Country, Government motivate mechanize farmers in agro production. It was concluded that Government has put more machineries in place and has introduced many programmes over the years to educate farmers and marketers such as: Agricultural Quarantine Services, National Programme on Food Security, ADP i.e. Agricultural Development Project, and so on.  Although, the impact of such programmes have not been felt by greater percentage of the Bida Community due to misappropriation and mismanagement of allocated funds and resources channel towards such areas by those saddle with the responsibility.  Nevertheless, government has played a vital role and is still playing more in the growth of agricultural marketing system. It was recommended that more accurate ways of information to farmers & agricultural marketers should be emphasize through the training and retraining of the people involved.

Keywords: Assessment. Government, Growth, Agricultural Marketing, System