This study provides an empirical evidence on market behaviour among male and female smallholder sweetpotato farmers in South Eastern, Nigeria. A stratified sampling design using a multistage method was used to collect cross sectional data from 360 respondents in 2017. The results show that the male farmers participated more at farmgate sells while the female participated more in the market. The result on determinants of farmgate participation for the female farmers showed that age, number of extension contacts, household size, area of sweetpotato cultivated, yield, transportation cost and market orientation were positive and significant. While capital, household size, yield, transportation cost, and market orientation were positive for the male farmers. The important determinants for sales at the market include; area of sweetpotato cultivated, transportation cost, road condition and market orientation were positive and age negative for female farmers while the coefficients for level of education, household size, area of sweetpotato cultivated, transportation cost and market orientation were positive, while age and distance from farm to the market were negative for male farmers. The result raised policies if attended to might unlock and release benefits associated with sweetpotato marketing behavior. Such policies include: access to transport and good road network, use of quality planting seed for planting and farmers access to land. Formal or informal institutional arrangements like farmer groups should be encouraged as farmers can collectively access distant markets with good prices.
Key words: Participation, Farmgate, Market, Producers and Sweetpotato. Jel Codes: M31, Q13, Q18 Article Language: EnglishTurkish
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