SPATIAL PATTERN AND STRUCTURE OF RURAL MARKET FREIGHT GENERATION IN SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Periodic rural market centres play a significant role in rural economy of developing countries particularly in Nigeria. It is therefore necessary to study the spatial impact of rural markets especially as it relates to the generation and flow of economic goods across the space. A questionnaire survey was carried out on 1375 marketers in 25 sampled rural markets centres. The results show that agricultural goods are dominant constituting over 73% of volume of goods generated by the rural market and there is spatial variation in the volume and composition of goods generated. The analysis of determinants of rural goods generating also revealed that out of five variables only two variables are very significant in modelling rural goods generation in the study area. These are Sale Catchment Area (SC) and Volume of Traffic (VT). The Sale Catchment Area (SC) is significant at1% level while (VT) that is volume of vehicular traffic generated by each rural market is significant at 5% level. They both accounted for 48% of the model of rural goods generation in the region. The study recommends that good rural roads and rural marketing facilities should be provided to enhance rural market accessibility and mobility. The paper concludes by suggesting further search for other explanatory variables such as population, agricultural output and the level of patronage in each market centre that can help in modelling goods generation by rural periodic markets in the area.