Journal of Agricultural Science; Vol. 8, No. 3; 2016 ISSN 1916-9752 E-ISSN 1916-9760 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 142 Efficiency of Vegetable Marketing in Peri-Urban Areas of Ogun State, Nigeria Samuel Uche Isitor 1 , Abiodun Olanrewaju Otunaiya 2 & Joel Oluwaseyi Iyanda 1 1 Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, College of Agricultural Sciences, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria 2 Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, College of Agricultural Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Yewa Campus, Ayetoro, Ogun State, Nigeria Correspondence: Samuel Uche Isitor, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, College of Agricultural Sciences, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria. E-mail: uisitor@hotmail.com Received: December 21, 2015 Accepted: January 23, 2016 Online Published: February 15, 2016 doi:10.5539/jas.v8n3p142 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jas.v8n3p142 Abstract Against the backdrop evidenced in the substantial wastage, deterioration in quality, and frequent mismatch between demand and supply of vegetables spatially and overtime; this study examined the efficiency of vegetable marketing in Ifo and Ado-Odo L.G.As of Ogun State, Nigeria. Primary data were employed for the study. Data were collected from 120 respondents with the aid of structured questionnaire using multistage sampling procedure. Analytical tools used included, Descriptive statistics, budgetary and marketing efficiency analyses. The study revealed that women (78.3%) were the major players in the enterprise and most had basic education with majority having business experience of more than five years. However, they relied on their personal savings to run their enterprise. Indigenous vegetable marketing was found to be profitable and efficient as indicated by the positive net margin of ₦29,180.05. As an indication of the profit maximization motive of the marketers, various marketing efficiency scores were computed for the selected indigenous vegetables. The scores are 10.85%, 3.88%, 5.27%, 2.54%, 5.32%, and 2.46% for ugu, tomato, okra, amaranthus, celocia and chocorus, respectively. It is recommended that extension trainings on preservation of indigenous vegetables should be conducted and accessible funds should be made available to these marketers, to forestall the problem of spoilage and lack of funds, as these constituted major drawbacks on marketing efficiency in the study areas. Keywords: marketing efficiency, net margin, Ogun State, vegetables 1. Introduction In sub-Saharan Africa, indigenous vegetables have been significant component of households’ diet (Oluoch et al., 2009). They are of great nutritive value and are important sources of vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and dietary fibers. Hence, vegetables are essential components of the human diet. It is often said that the nutritional security of a country can be achieved only when enough vegetables are consumed (Udoh & Etim, 2006a). According to FAO (1998), vegetables refer to all categories of plants whose leaves, fruits or roots are acceptable and used as vegetables by urban and rural communities through custom, habit and tradition. There are a host of terms describing traditional African vegetables (TAV), including indigenous African vegetables (IAV); African indigenous vegetables (AIV) traditional leafy vegetables (TLV); African leafy vegetables (ALV); traditional African leafy vegetables (TALV or TLV)—and all are subject to contested meanings (Ambrose-Oji, 2009). However, in Nigeria, some common indigenous vegetables include Ugu (Telfairia occidentalis), water leaf (Talinium triangulaire), bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina), Green (Amaranthus caudatus) and ukazi (Gnetum africanum) and examples of fruit vegetables are cucumber, garden egg, carrot, Cabbage, and onion. Vegetables are very essential for human consumption and must be available at all times in an adequate amount and quality. It must also be safe for consumption, and the price must be within the range of the consumers’ budget (Firdaus & Gunawan, 2012) Indigenous vegetable production like any other farming activity utilizes resources. Udoh and Etim (2006a) opined that for optimum production, available resources must be utilized by farmers as efficiently as possible