The study investigated the marketing practices, channels of sheabutter distribution and performance using multi stage sampling techniques to select three local government area for the study in Oyo State. The results showed about 91% of the respondents were female, the average age of the respondents was 35.5 years. Most (92.5%) of the respondents were married with average household size of 8 members. Marketing efficiency was 135% which implies that the respondents covered the cost of marketing and made a margin above 100%. Unavailability of sheabutter due to deforestation and credit unavailability were the major constraints faced by sheabutter marketers. Furthermore, Household size (p=0.005), marketing experience and member of organization (p=0.001), source of shea butter (p=0.01) and credit availability (p=0.005) were factors influencing marketing efficiency of the respondents. The study concluded that sheabutter marketing was a profitable enterprise in the study area. The study recommended that there should be proper awareness on the prospect of sheabutter business (either for local use or exportation) among young people; this will be an avenue to alleviate the scourge of unemployment in the country.

Fuel wood is an important source of income and domestic energy for both rural and urban households in Nigeria. The marketing of fuel wood in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria was investigated with a view to assess the profitability and contribution of fuelwood marketing to sustainable livelihood in Oyo state. Data for the study were obtained from a total of 50 randomly selected respondents through interview schedules, structured questionnaires applications and personal observation. Descriptive statistical tools such as frequency, percentages and tables were used to analyze variables of interest such as age, gender, marital status, education, tribe, experience and type of institution. Profitability analysis was used to examine the profitability of the enterprise. The results revealed that majority (86%) of the marketers were females, 44% had only primary education while 36% had 11 to 20 years of the business experience. The Profitability analysis revealed that an average marketer incurred an average of total variable cost of 31,731.82 naira per month but earned average revenue of 38,290.00 naira which indicated that an average marketer earns 6,558.18 naira as gross margin per month. This thus indicated that fuel wood marketing is profitable. Transportation, season and government policy are the major marketing constraints of fuel wood. It is therefore recommended that government should provide good transportation incentives such as good road networks that will reduce the transaction costs and make transportation easy for fuel wood marketers.

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The present study investigates household consumption pattern of snail meat in Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State. A multistage random  sampling technique was used to administer the questionnaires to a total of 120 respondents. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive  statistics and inferential statistics. The socioeconomic factors analyzed showed that age group between 31 and 40 (45.0%) consumed snail more  while age group between 51 and 60 (11.70%) consumed less snails. The majority of respondents were Married (60.8%) and possess secondary education (54.2%). Most of the respondents (95.8%) consume snail meat but most of them consume snail meat on a seasonal basis unlike beef and fish. Furthermore, fried form of snail meat is mostly (65%) preferred when compared to cooked form (24.2%). The regression analysis shows that the consumption of snail meat depended on the price, household size, educational level, household income, nutritive value, occupation and its availability. Problems associated with snail meat consumption in the study area include Price, income level, unavailability and cultural belief. Based on the findings, this study recommends that extension workers should engage the public on the need to get involved in the rearing of snails to make it readily available all year round and thus make it more affordable for all sundry. Keywords: Snail meat, Consumption, Nutritive Values and Oluyole Local Government Area.

This study analysed the profitability of catfish farming in Ilorin west Local Government Area of Kwara State. Multistage sampling technique was used to collect data from 120 catfish farmers using structured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, Gross margin analysis and linear regression. Result shows that more than half (54.17%) of the catfish farmers were males while majority (63.34%) of the farmers were within the age group 31- 50 years. The mean age and household size of farmers in the study area were 38 years and 5 persons respectively. Most of the catfish farmers (45.83%) utilized concrete pond type while average fish pond size was 205 square metres. Major source of finance for farmers is from their personal savings. The gross margin analysis shows that gross margin for the catfish farmers was ₦22,013,583.1 while the average gross margin was ₦183,446.52 perproduction cycle indicating that catfish farming is profitable. The result of the linear regression reveals that pond maintenance,  transportation and feed cost are negative and have significant effects on income generated from catfish business while pond size and education is positive and significant at 5%. Since catfish business is a profitable venture, the study recommends that the Nigerian government should use this as a means to empower unemployed youths and rural households to reduce poverty level as well as dependence on fish importation in the country. Keywords: Catfish farmers, Profitability, Production, Gross margin, Personal saving.