VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF CRAYFISH MARKETING IN ORON BUSINESS CLUSTER OF AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study assessed value chain analysis of crayfish marketing in Oron business cluster of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to; analyze and compare the cost structure, revenue profile and returns across value chain actors in crayfish marketing; and assess the distribution of values and benefits in the crayfish value chain. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to draw samples of 129 fishers, 66 Processors, 60 Primary wholesalers and 96 retailers. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaire and analyzed using Budgetary Analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) test and Bar charts. The results showed that value addition across the chain is overwhelmingly concentrated at the primary capture stage, where fishers incur a unit cost of ₦2,586.33 per kilogram, accounting for 85.4% of the total value added along the entire marketing corridor. Primary wholesalers achieve an extraordinarily high Return on Investment of 266.00% and a Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) of 13.35. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) test results showed that disparities in returns across value chain actors are statistically significant. The calculated F-values for net profit (F = 8529.96, p < 0.0001) and Return on Investment (F = 63,664.50, p < 0.0001) demonstrate clear structural differences across all nodes. Primary fishers contribute the vast majority of direct value addition along the entire chain, absorbing 85.4% of total unit costs, processors account for 9.0% of total value addition through sun-drying and smoking—functions, primary wholesalers account for merely 3.0% of direct value addition costs, yet they capture the single largest share of net benefits along the chain at 34.73% while retailers account for the remaining 2.6% of value addition while capturing 24.42% of total chain benefits. The study concludes that crayfish marketing in the study area is highly profitable across all actor nodes, but it suffers from severe structural inequities in value addition and economic benefit capture. Hence, the study recommends that fishers and processors should be encouraged to form strong marketing cooperatives. Collective bargaining and joint storage facilities would enable primary producers to bypass exploitative intermediary pricing, improving their net returns and balancing market leverage against primary wholesalers.