JOURNAL OF LIAONING TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
(NATURAL SCIENCE EDITION)
LIAONING GONGCHENG JISHU DAXUE XUEBAO (ZIRAN KEXUE BAN)
辽宁工程技术大学学报（自然科学版）
ACCEPTABILITY OF NIGERIA AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE AMONG URBAN DWELLERS IN SUPERMARKETS OF OSUN STATE, NIGERIA
Ogunsesin, Bosede Deborah, Oyetoro John Oyewole
ABSTRACT
Insufficient information regarding the agricultural products found in supermarket constitute a bridge between agricultural produce suppliers and its acceptability by consumers. In developing countries like Nigeria, the studies on consumption of locally made agricultural produce in modern retail markets such as supermarkets are still minimal. The study therefore focused on the acceptability of Nigeria agricultural produce among urban dwellers in supermarkets of Osun State. A multistage sampling technique was employed in selecting 139 urban dwellers that patronized supermarkets for agricultural produce. The data collected for the study were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, and weighted mean score (WMS) while inferential statistical tool used was Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results show that the mean age of the respondents was 44.2 years. Both male and female patronized the supermarkets. Artisans recorded low patronage. The mean years of patronage was of 5.9 years. Findings showed that for legumes; green peas was ranked 1st, under processed cereals; wheat ranked 1st, for nuts; peanuts ranked 1st, under processed tubers; gaari and yam flour were ranked 1st, under fruits category; oranges ranked 1st, for spices; ginger ranked 1st on their level of acceptability of the agricultural produce sold in the supermarkets. The result of Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there was significant difference (F =11.949, P= 0.000) in the respondents’ acceptability level of agricultural products across supermarkets in Osun State. The study concluded that respondents had varied acceptability level of patronizing supermarkets for agricultural produce. It is thereby recommended that more public enlightenment is needed for some categories of their customers (artisans) that attributed low patronage to encourage more patronage and this in turn will boost agricultural produce supply to supermarkets and benefit the farmers.
KEYWORDS: Acceptability, Agricultural Produce, Urban dweller, Supermarkets, Nigerian supermarkets