Margins and economic viability of fresh coconut marketing in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana

Abstract

The study was conducted in the Kumasi metropolis of the Ashanti region of Ghana to examine the margins and economic viability of fresh coconut marketing. Cross-sectional data was randomly collected from 120 individual fresh coconut marketers in market centers across the metropolis and analyzed, using Deconstructed Marketing Margins and Return on Capital Employed. The study revealed that fresh coconut marketing in the Kumasi metropolis is a viable venture that employs people within the economically active age group. Actors in the market have very low educational background with some having no formal education. It has been identified as a safe net for school drop outs, proving meaningful employment for them. Fresh coconut marketing has been found as a lucrative venture to economically empower both men and women to improve their livelihoods. With a minimum of GH₡18.00, as a start-up capital, one can enter into this venture and receive proportionate returns. Actors in the market receive rates of returns several times higher than fixed-deposit interest rate in the Ghanaian economy because they can turn over their relatively low capital several times in the year to accrue more profit. Retailing, though needs a very small start-up capital, is the most profitable level along the distribution channel. Transporting and distributing fresh coconut from the production centre to the consumer market is more profitable than rationing them to retailers and wholesalers in the marketplace. Key words: Economic viability, deconstructed market margin, sedentary wholesaler, itinerant wholesaler.