The study was on the socio-economic analysis of
wholesale rice marketers in Abia State, Nigeria. The study
described the socio-economic characteristics of the traders,
determined the socio-economic factors that influenced
profitability, ascertained the marketing margins, percentage
sales receipts as well as the percentage total variable cost
(structural efficiency) of the enterprise and made some policy
recommendations based on the findings. A multi-stage sampling
technique was used and administered strictly on the wholesalers
who deal on local rice. Five markets were selected from each of
the local government areas. After this, twenty traders were
randomly selected from the already selected markets. In all, a
total of 100 respondents were selected for the study. Descriptive
statistics, multiple regression, marketing margin, percentage
sales receipt as well as structural efficiency formulae were used
in the analysis of the data. The result showed that majority of
traders accounting for 54 percent had secondary school
certificate. The result also showed that 74 percent of them had
spent between 6 and 10 years in the business. Income, years of
experience, educational attainment of the traders and sex of the
traders were major determinants of profitability in the
enterprise. Percentage sales receipts obtained were 11.43
percent while 1.33 percent was obtained as percentage total
variable cost, indicating that the enterprise is structurally
efficient. The study recommended that agencies involved in the
building of roads should extend such to these localities where
rice is produced. Also females should be empowered
economically to go into the trade, given their profit levels in the
enterprise.