Comparative Analysis of Plantation and Banana Marketing in Port Harcourt City Metropolis, Rivers State, Nigeria.

The study was centred on the comparative analysis of plantain and banana marketing in the Port Harcourt Metropolis, Rivers State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 126 plantain and banana marketers whom were selected using a simple random sampling technique from seven purposively-selected markets in the study area. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, a gross margin model, and the t-test. The findings showed that plantain and banana marketers were 100% female, that is only females were identified in the trade; 51.6% and 56.3% of these plantain and banana marketers had mean ages of 40.8 years and 59.5 years respectively; in addition, the majority of the marketers were married (73.0% and 65.1% respectively). Furthermore, they earned a monthly profit of ₦55,370.42 and ₦47,654.74 respectively, which indicates that both businesses are profitable. Further, the plantain and banana trade shared similar marketing channels, the number of which was four, with the most dominant channel being the one composed of the producer, rural assembler, wholesaler, retailer, and the consumer. The t-test analysis demonstrated that the difference in profit by plantain and banana marketers was statistically significant at the p-value of < 0.05. Unemployed youths in Rivers State should be trained by well-meaning organisations so that they can take up the marketing of plantains/bananas as a means of earning a living due to their profitability.