The topic, the application of the marketing concept in the marketing of agricultural products is an interesting topic, which has given the researcher a challenging opportunity to investigate, and was able to come forward with certain facts about the topic. As the topic implies, the marketing concept is a philosophy that holds that the customer satisfaction is the social and economic justification for the existence of a business agriculture as a form of business is not in exemption when it comes to the marketing of its products. Have, poultry business is sampled out and the application of marketing concept in the marketing of its products, in the course of researching into this associated with poultry management and how it will affect the consumers if the farmers are marketing oriented rather than sales oriented. Such problems are discussed in details in chapters of the research work and useful recommendation suggestion made to guide poultry farmers who apt to practice real marketing ethics and its concepts if applied will help them to remain in the business successfully.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
It was become quite evident that agriculture has become the most important sector among numerous sectors of the economy in Nigeria. as a result, all other sectors depend largely on agriculture for their success. Agriculture is therefore defined as all the processes involved in the production of plant and animal product for man’s use. It entails the cultivation of crops of reaving of domestic animals, harvesting those crops and reaving of domestic animals. Processing as well as delivering them to the final users at the right time, place and at affordable price. From the above definition of agriculture one may rightly deduce that it include all the national gifts, which God freely endows us with. They include land, trees, and all the raw materials gotten from land for the manufacturing of numerous agricultural products. It also includes the industrial crops that serve as raw materials to agro – based industries. Agriculture is basically divided into two major parts namely: crop production and animal production. Crop production deals with the production of all classes of crops e.g carrels, legumes, roots, tubers, vegetables and fruits, while under animal production otherwise known as livestock production deals with the production of all kinds of domestic animals like poultry diary, fisheries etc. Infact, there are in existence numerous agricultural products. We discover that most of the goods sold in most markets are agricultural goods. Since agricultural products are vast, we are narrowing it to a sector, which will help us to limiting our scope of study so as to achieve a better result on the concept under study, which is the application of the marketing concept in the marketing of agricultural products. When this is verified, we can now attribute it to the other agricultural products and know how they relate to the marketing concept. In this vein, therefore the researcher is narrowing down the study to poultry production to see how the marketing concept is upheld and applied in the business.
As it has been established earlier on that agriculture is the most important sector of economy in Nigeria. It is also evident that poultry husbandry has also become very common and even the people of Nigeria at large and specially Abia State. The need for agricultural marketing arises with production of excess and above consumption. This portion that is marketed is known as the marketable surplus. When such products are produced in abundance, the need to distribute them to people that will need them also arises. This then calls for marketing, which involves the production, storage, processing, distribution and pricing of such products.The application of marketing concept in the marketing of agricultural (poultry) products is the scope of this research work. The researcher wants to compare the practice in the poultry business with the recommend application of this marketing concept, which determines, the success of the business.
1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
It has been said earlier that poultry husbandry has become the most intensive sector in livestock farming as an example of agricultural products among Nigerians at large and precisely Abia State. Within any geographical set up, one may observe many poultry houses and huts put up by poultry farmers. Most of these farmers have it as their fulltime business while some take it as a mere hubby. It provides the keeper with eggs for domestic use and possibly meat after the fowl might have dropped in laying eggs, within a space of time according to the type of fowls kept.
Going round our local market, it could be observed that poultry products like eggs and chickens (dressed and live) are being sold. Some of these live fowls are carried in cages, which are sometimes dirty or rather nasty. The fowls themselves are even dirty and sicky, yet people buy them. Some of these fowls are sent back to the litter when other fowls not taken to the market are kept. Experience among various poultry farmers show that most of the times, due to the exposure of the fowl to such unsuitable condition and temperature of that market, one disease or the other is infesting them when these fowls are returned to the litter after a time the whole poultry house will be infested bringing about mortality to the fowls. Consequently upon the aforementioned facts, the poultry farmer will be subjected to an extensive loss, which certainly will be a great draw back to him. The irony of the whole matter is that these mort are sometimes are practiced by some farmers, dressed and kept in cold room and subsequently supplied to hotels, restaurants and some people who buy them for either their individual use or for hawking. For the purpose of being fair. It is evident that not all poultry farmers indulge in such unhealthy act. What about the eggs? Eggs are sold at random in the market and in the stores. Eggs have expiring date. But because of the nature of the place they are sold, some are still sold even after they are deemed to have gone bad some how.
The researcher feels that where there is an application of marketing concept in this aspect of poultry business as an example of agricultural products, such unwanted ventures cannot be practiced. It is as a result of all these that the research problem is centered on identifying to what extent customers of poultry products are being put into consideration, such that convenience and health are considered. The problem is also to identify how best the fowls can be kept, managed and marketed having in mind the protection of the interest of customers, and the masses at large. It will be important to note that this analysis to an extent is restricted to the experience of Elegance (Aba) Poultry Farmer’s Cooperative Society Ltd Aba South L.G.A Abia State.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The purpose of this research work is to critically review the extent the marketing concept, which is the basis of effective business, is applied in the marketing of poultry products (Agricultural Product) as it relates to Elegance (Aba) Poultry Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd Aba South L.G.A. Abia State. Since poultry business has become a common practice among cooperative societies, women, retrieved civil servants children also the professional farmers, it then becomes imperative to study how each is fairing in the business, putting the probable customers and neighbors into consideration. It is sometimes mis-constructed that there is no body regulating the activities of poultry farmers in the area of sanitation, price setting and entire management of such venture. However, the researcher is aware of the existence of poultry association of Nigeria (PAN), this is an association of all poultry industries in Nigeria.
For this course, it is the purpose of this research among the aforementioned facts to
1.3 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ELEGANCE (ABA) POULTRY FAMERS COOPERATIVE SOCIETY
The importance of protein in our diet cannot be over emphasized poultry is one of the cheapest sources of protein if managed well; poultry production is also profitable through capital intensive. The importance of protein in diet and lack of good management and low maintenance of the preexisting poultry farms in Aba has necessitated the formation of Elegance (Aba) Poultry Farmers’ Cooperative Society Ltd that was established at Aba on 16th June 1976. The above poultry farm is a livestock farm owned by the family of late Mr. Barnabas Chukwudulue of Awka in Awka L.G.A. Anambra State, but based at Aba, Abia State. The cooperative society farm was established at the time mentioned in Aba after the civil war by law. The initial scale of the poultry farm was a medium one and it has presently grown faire. This means that the establishment is progressive.Before the civil war which started in 1967 and ended in 1970, there were in existence so many poultry farms owned by various persons and organizations, but during the war, so many of them were damaged and their owners could not put them together again as a result of hard economy caused by the war. Gradually to her farms were being set up to replace those ones lost during the war of which elegance is one of such.
The reasons for the establishment of this poultry farm was that the population was faced with high demand for protein but the economy could not allow adequate supply of it. Milk was placed in a price that was not affordable to the less privileged in the society, meat, eggs, and other portentous items were exorbitantly sold and bought by those who could afford them.This family was a very large one due to the fact that their father married 18 wives and he lost his life during the war. For them to start life after the war was very difficult for them and they were also not able to provide the amount of protein needed for the growth of their children. They now agreed to sell their father’s property so that they could start life. When they sold those property, problem arose as to how to share the money realized and they found out that even if shared could not do anything in helping them to stand. A family friend of theirs who was once a poultry farmer now advised them to use the money for a family investment in which they will be generating income from time to time instead of sharing the money. They agreed and started marking arrangements on what to invest the money in the finally the set up a family poultry farm. Gradually they now turn it to a cooperative society when the farm was now growing. Really, the farm produced chicken and eggs to help in the nutritional requirement of the masses and their family as well and it from there progressing till this present day with many changes.
The staff strength of the establishment is 5. 5 skilled and 10 unskilled labourers, because of the nature eof ownership and the initial purpose of the establishment, there have not been any branches opened. However the establishment is under the administration of a management committee, skilled accountant, clerk, salesclerk, and veterinary personnel and poultry pen attendants.In the area of marketing, the establishment supplies life chicken to people far and near and especially dressed chicken to Abia Hotels, Binez Hotel, Tamulus Hotel, Mr. Biggs, and other numerous organization and schools, many poultry farmers in Abia and beyond have elegance as the source of their day – old chicks. It also has some consultancy assistance for some petty/small scale poultry farmers. Elegance poultry farm has got 26 houses full of birds, incubator for hatching and cold room for the preservation of dressed chicken it also has a feed mill industry where the feeds used are produced, which are also commercialized at a reduced rate this feed mill section supplies feeds to numerous farmers in Abia, Imo, Anambra, Rivers and Cross River.
Above all, the project and its products are heavily reliable because a band of persons who are trust worthy owns it and there is modesty in their claims as Elegance.
BELOW IS THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART OF THE PROJECT
1.4 DEFINITION OF TERMS AND SYMBOLS
For a better understanding of this research work, some professional and technical terms should be defined or explained therefore, the following terms are defined thus:
1. COOPERATIVE SOCIETY: This is an association of persons, voluntarily united to meet their social economic needs and aspiration through a jointly owned, and democratically controlled business enterprise.
2. POULTRY: Those species of birds that render economic services to man and reproduce freely u
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