[01] Abah Daniel Abah, Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN)/International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), Abuja, Nigeria. [02] Mbanasor Jude Anayochukwu, Department of Agribusiness and Management, College of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria. [03] Agwu Michael Nnana, Department of Agribusiness and Management, College of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.

Nigeria ranks first with 56.23% of total world ginger cultivation area. However, the nation’s contribution to world ginger trade is low. The study analyzed the socioeconomic characteristics of key actors in the ginger value chain in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study covered four Local Government Areas in Southern Kaduna State namely: Kachia, Jaba, Kagarko and Jema’a. Data were obtained with the aid of structured questionnaire and personal interviews. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 555 respondents out of which 369 responses were analyzed. The data collection instrument was validated by content validity while reliability was achieved by pilot testing and by Cronbach’s alpha (α) analysis. Descriptive statistics and OLS multiple regression analysis were used for data analysis. The study found that majority of the actors in the ginger value chain have attained some level of education. The mean household size across key actors in the value chain was 7. The actors in the value chain were male dominated. Majority of the producers were experienced, small-scale farmers with very poor access to extension education and do not membership of any marketing association. The socioeconomic determinants of profit were; experience, education, age, sales income and extension contact for producers; and experience, education, age and sales income for assemblers, wholesalers and retailers. Furthermore, the socioeconomic characteristics of the ginger value chain actors have significant influence on the profitability of ginger enterprises in the study area. The study recommends that government should assist in group formation, strengthening and linkage to finance, employ more extension agents and develop policy to address barriers to women participation and equal benefit in ginger production and marketing.

Ginger, Value Chain, Socioeconomics, Kaduna State, Extension Contact, Determinants of Profit, OLS Multiple Regression

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