CASH MANAGEMENT AND PROFITABILITY OF SELECTED FOOD PROCESSING FIRMS IN ONDO STATE,NIGERIA

The study assessed the profitability of Garri production in Ondo State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 216 garri producers from six Local Government Areas of Ondo State. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, profitability analysis and multiple regression model. The results revealed that 86.1% of garri producers were female with 45.4% of the respondents produced white garri. Majority of the respondents (77.8%) fermented their cassava for 4 - 5 days. The profitability analysis revealed that garri production was a profitable enterprise given a gross margin and profit of N24,582.18 and N16,582.18 per garri processing cycle respectively. The results of the multiple regression further showed that access to credit, cost of purchase, producer's experience and price fluctuation were the statistically significant factors that affect the returns to garri production in the study area. The main challenges faced by the producers were inadequate funds (65.3%) and fluctuation of producers'price (61.1%). Therefore, this study recommends that white garri which is more durable and acceptable should be given higher priority in production. Since, credit access and producers'price fluctuation positively influenced returns to garri production; it was also recommended that relevant policies to address access to credit as well as good storage facilities to guide against drastic fall in price should be put in place for the garri producers. Keywords:fermentation,Garri,Multiple Regression,Production