Factors influencing profitability among gum a rabic marketers in North-Eastern Nigeria

The Gum arabic marketing in Nigeria started since 1914, when the then Northern Provence Governor, Mr. Howbey R. Palmer visited Sudan and saw how Gum arabic business was thriving there; he immediately ordered for sample collection of similar produce he saw in northern Nigeria and sent it to Premier Institute, London for analysis. Gum arabic is an economic tree crop commonly found in Sahelian and Savannah of tropical zones. There are over 1100 different species of the plant. Three of these are of economic value due to the role they play in manufacturing industries worldwide such as in the manufacture of many industrial goods like ink, pharmaceuticals, paint, textiles, papers etc. The study thus analysed the factors influencing revenue generation from gum arabic among its marketers in Adamawa, Yobe and Taraba states, Nigeria. 150 respondents were randomly interviewed in three Local Governments of the states using structured questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistical models were used for the analyses. The results revealed that age, education, operating cost and fixed cost had negative coefficients while family size, purchasing cost, volume of gum arabic sold; labour cost and gum Arabic marketing experience had positive coefficients. These imply that an increase on those variables with negative coefficients will decrease revenue generation in the sales of gum arabic in the area; while an increase in those variables with positive coefficients will lead to increase in the revenue generation in gum arabic marketing in the study area. The economic advice was that gum arabic marketers should reduce allocation of fixed items and operating costs which had inverse relationship with revenue and increase allocation of the variables with positive coefficients in order to be more efficient in the gum arabic business in the area. Also, as age and education had negative coefficients in the result, it is advised that older and educated people should venture into other businesses that economically befit their status.