Marketing and Utilization of Irvingia Kernels ‘ogbono’ in Ado-Ekiti Metropolitan Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria

The study was carried out to determine the marketing channel, utilization and the marketing efficiency of Irvingia gabonensis and Irvingia wombolu kernels ‘ogbono’ in Ado-Ekiti Metropolitan Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Data for marketing were collected from the whole population (61) of ‘ogbono’ sellers from two major markets while for the utilization of ‘ogbono’ 300 households were haphazardly sampled in the study area. Data were collected through the administration of semi-structured questionnaire and interview. The data collected were analyzed using Descriptive statistics; Percentage mention was used for ranking while Gross Margin Ratio (GMR) was used to estimate the marketing efficiency of ‘ogbono’. Marketing channel for ‘ogbono’ revealed seven stages from the producer to the final consumer while the categories of ‘ogbono’ traders were village merchants, middlemen, wholesalers and retailers. The utilization of ‘ogbono’ as soup condiment ranked highest with 91.7% while its utilization in treating burns and as anti-venom in treating snake bites ranked 2nd and 3rd with 18.3% and 13.3% respectively. The estimated GMR that was used to determine the marketing efficiency of ‘ogbono’ in Ado-Ekiti was 26.4%. The GMR showed that there were impediments to the marketing efficiency of ‘ogbono’ since it was slightly higher than the prevailing bank interest rate of 24%. The major problems limiting ‘ogbono’ marketing was non- availability of ‘ogbono’ which ranked first with 90.2%, followed by transportation problem with 86.9%, fund ranked third with 83.6% while storage ranked the least with 11.5%., In order to reduce the scarcity of ‘ogbono’ in the study area, there is the need to encourage farmers to plant Irvingia gabonensis and Irvingia wombolu; while government should ensure good road between farm-settlements and main markets to facilitate the transportation of ‘ogbono’ by the processors. This will reduce the number of middlemen while improving the marketing efficiency.