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Exploitation and inefficiency in Cameroon food marketing systems—myth or reality?: Some evidence from the west province

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The Review of Black Political Economy

Abstract

Urbanization and the food crisis have contributed to increased allegations of consumer exploitation and inefficiency in African food marketing systems. This article investigates the question of consumer exploitation and inefficiency in the food crop marketing system of the West Province of Cameroon. Exploitation is evaluated in terms of net marketing margin, and efficiency in terms of the provision of foodstuffs at competitive prices, consistent with the cost of moving commodities from producers to consumers, under prevailing conditions.Multiple regression models are employed to evaluate the determinants of gross marketing margins for vendors of four food commodities—plantain, maize, tomato, and potato. Findings suggest that the food marketing system is highly competitive with no formal entry barriers, and that allegations of consumer exploitation are largely unfounded. Given the multiplicity of economic constraints facing food vendors, they appear to carry out their marketing functions with a surprising degree of efficiency.

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Notes

  1. See for example, Carl K. Eicher, “Facing up to Africa’s Food Crisis,” in Carl K.Eicher and John M. Staatz, eds.,Agricultural Development in the Third World (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), pp. 453–479.

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  2. Cameroon is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Nigeria to the West, Chad and the Central African Republic to the North and East and Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to the South. During the period of federation (1961–1972), Cameroon had two states: West Cameroon and East Cameroon. During the unitary period (1972–1983), the country was divided into seven provinces: Center-South, Littoral, West, East, North, North-West and South-West. In 1983, the Center-South Province was divided into the Center and South provinces and the North into the North, Far-North and Adamoua provinces, giving rise to ten provinces.

  3. Food security has come to be defined as the ability to provide an adequate supply of food and access of the population to that supply, usually through generating adequate levels of effective demand via income growth or transfers.

  4. See World Bank,L’Afrique au Sud du Sahara: Rapport Intermaire sur les Perspectives et Programmes de Developpement (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1983), and World Bank,World Development Report (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1984), pp. 260.

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  5. Jane I. Guyer, “Feeding Yaoundé, Capital of Cameroon,” in Jane I. Guyer, ed.,Feeding African Cities: Studies in Regional Social History (Manchester: Manchester University Press for International African Institute, 1987), pp. 112–153.

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  6. See William O. Jones,Marketing Staple Food Crops in Tropical Africa (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982); V. Roy Southworth, William O. Jones and Scott R. Pearson, “Food Crop Marketing in Atebaba District, Ghana,”Food Research Institute Studies 17(1979), pp. 29-42.

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  7. See for example, E. Berg, “Reforming Grain Marketing Systems in West Africa: A Case Study of Mali,” in ICRISAT,Proceedings of the International Workshop on Socioeconomic Constraints to Development of Semi-Arid Tropical Agriculture, 19–23 February 1979, Hyderabad, India (Patancheru, India, 1980); CILSS/Club du Sahel. (Working Group on Marketing, Price Policy, and Storage),Marketing, Price Policy and Storage of Food Grains in the Sahel: A Survey (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, Center for Research on Economic Development, 1977); N.O.O. Ejiga, “Economic Analysis of Storage, Distribution and Consumption of Cowpeas in Northern Nigeria,” Ph.D. dissertation, (Cornell University, 1977); H.M. Hays,The Marketing and Storage of Food Grain in Northern Nigeria (Zaria, Nigeria: Ahmandu Bello University, IAR, Samara Miscel-laneous Paper No. 50, 1975); J. Ongla, “Structure, Conduct and Performance of the Food Crop Marketing System in Cameroon: A Case Study of Yaoundé and Adjacent Areas,” Ph.D. dissertation, (University of Florida, 1978).

  8. Graham P. Hollier, “Examining Allegations of Exploitation and Inefficiency in Rural Marketing Systems: Some Evidence from West Cameroon,”Journal of Developing Areas 19(1985), pp. 393–412.

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  9. See Jones, “Marketing Staple”; Southworth et al., “Food Crop Marketing,” and Hollier, “Examining Allegations.”

  10. John C. Abbott, “Institutional Reform of Marketing and Related Services in Agriculture, with Particular Reference to Africa,”Agricultural Economics 1 (1987), pp. 143–157.

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  11. See World Bank,Accelerated Development in Sub-Sahara Africa: An Agenda for Action (Washington, D.C., 1981), p. 58.

  12. Ajaga Nji, “Socioeconomic Factors Related to the Adoption of Agricultural Technology in the Western Province of Cameroon.” Unpublished paper from the University Center of Dschang, Cameroon, (1982).

  13. See Ajaga Nji, “Socioeconomic Factors,” and Cameroon Ministry of Agriculture,West Province Annual Statistics, 1984-1985 (Bafoussam: West Province Service of Studies and Statistics, 1985).

  14. A. Gonoue, “Production et Commercialisation des produits vivrier dans le region de Dschang,” M. Ed. Thesis, Ecole Normale Superior, Yaoundé, Cameroon, (1982).

  15. The following characteristic describes the working of the eight-day marketing cycle in the Dschang-Bafou markets.Day of the Week Market Location Size of Market Monday Dschang Small Market (SM) Tuesday Baleveng Big Market (BM) Wednesday Fongo-Tongo and Bafou (Rural) Ordinary Market (OM) Thursday Fongo-Ndeng Ordinary Market (OM) Friday Bafou Big Market (BM) Saturday Dschang Big Market (BM) Sunday Bansoa and Fontsa-Toula Ordinary Market (OM) Monday_____________Foto______________________________OrdinaryMarket (OM) NOTE: The limit of the week according to the official seven-day calendar is denoted by -. The limit of the week according to the local eight-day calendar is denoted by—. At this point the cycle repeats itself, commencing at Dschang.

  16. See Joe S. Bain,Industrial Organization (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1959).

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  17. Ibid., p. 6.

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  18. Ibid., p. 7, 9, 340.

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  19. Robert L. Clodius and Willard F. Mueller, “Market Structure Analysis as an Orientation for Research in Agricultural Economics,”American Journal of Agricultural Economics 63(1961), pp. 515–553.

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  20. Details of the survey data are available from the authors.

  21. United Nations, FAO,Ninth FAO Regional Conference for Africa, Freetown Sierre Leone (Rome: 1976), p. 13.

  22. The explanatory variable RT2 (Road Type 2) represents the most common type of roads traveled by vendors as they transport commodities to local markets. These provincial roads are generally unpaved. During the rainy season they are frequently impassable and they are excessively dusty during the dry season. Poor road conditions lead to high transport costs (as transporters pass on the high cost of vehicle maintenance to consumers). They also increase the spoilage rate for highly perishable and fragile crops.

  23. The variables deleted from each of these models are those that are not relevant to the specific commodity, given the data base.

  24. For discussion of the concept of price discovery see, Wayne D. Purcell,Agricultural Marketing: Systems, Coordination, Cash and Futures Prices (Reston, Virginia: Reston Publishing Company, 1979).

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  25. The primary supply source for maize and potato vendors was the Dschang market itself. In the case of plantain vendors it was the Mbo Plain, located some thirty kilometers south of Dschang. For tomato vendors it was Mbouda which is located some ninety-five kilometers north of Dschang (see Figure 1).

  26. James V. Koch,Microeconomic Theory and Applications (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1976, p. 287).

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  27. Highly perishable commodities have an extremely short shelf life, particularly under marketing conditions existing in Cameroon. For such commodities, the quantity available for consumption is largely fixed by the size of production, and the entire quantity must be consumed within a short period. The degree of perishability of the commodity becomes an important characteristic for differentiating the product. Also, a higher degree of perishability reduces the range of substitutes available. The combined effects are that, for a given price-quantity combination, the demand curve becomes relatively inelastic. However, the capacity to effect product differentiation will be limited; thus the firm will use price competition as an important part of its overall marketing strategy. This type of behavior is not uncommon under conditions of intensive haggling between buyers and sellers. Under such conditions product differentiation and price discrimination become what has been referred to as “nonsystematic and chaotic.” See Purcell,Agricultural Marketing, pp. 44-45 and Koch,Microeconomic Theory, p. 228.

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Authors
  1. Neil A. Boyer
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  2. Carlton G. Davis
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Boyer, N.A., Davis, C.G. Exploitation and inefficiency in Cameroon food marketing systems—myth or reality?: Some evidence from the west province. Rev Black Polit Econ 18, 69–97 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02901191

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