International Journal of Development and Sustainability ISSN: 2186-8662 – www.isdsnet.com/ijds Volume 7 Number 6 (2018): Pages 2017-2029 ISDS Article ID: IJDS18040502 Impacts of non-institutional microfinance agencies on fish marketing in Okitipupa, Ondo State, Nigeria Olawande Samson Ayewalehinmi, Funmilola Omolara Agbebi * Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology, Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Nigeria Abstract Impacts of Non-Institutional Microfinance Agencies on Fish Marketing were carried out at Okitipupa Main Market, Okitipupa, Ondo State, Nigeria. Purposive sampling technique was used to select seventy (70) fish marketers and questionnaire was administered on them. Data analytic tool included descriptive statistics. It was observed that all the fish marketers belong to either one microfinance group or association and most of the marketers (74%) took loans for their businesses. However, a larger number of the respondents borrow money from local cooperative societies but microfinance remain the best option for those who do not have savings prior to the time of loan application or starting a new business. Also based on the low interest rate which is mostly below 15% and flexible repayment terms and period, it remains one of the best sources for loans for starting business and catering for marketing emergency needs of these rural people. It also serves as the closest loan option for small scale marketers who cannot approach a commercial bank or private money lenders for loans. The absence of government grants and credit facilities for marketers also makes non-institutional microfinance to be the most accessible option for different forms of savings and loan grants. It can be concluded that 52% of the respondents benefitted from the non- institutional based microfinance agencies. It is recommended that government should support the fish marketers by increasing their financial base through the provision of long term and single digit loans with flexible loan repayment plan and to encourage private investors who are trustworthy to get involved in the process of providing low-interest loans to fish marketers. Keywords: Non-Institutional; Microfinance; Fish Market; Okitipupa * Corresponding author. E-mail address: funmiaquaconsult@gmail.com Published by ISDS LLC, Japan | Copyright © 2018 by the Author(s) | This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cite this article as: Ayewalehinmi, O.S. and Agbebi, F.O. (2018), “Impacts of non-institutional microfinance agencies on fish marketing in Okitipupa, Ondo State, Nigeria”, International Journal of Development and Sustainability, Vol. 7 No. 6, pp. 2017- 2029.