Abstract:
The study was conducted in the Kumasi metropolis of the Ashanti region of Ghana to examine the
margins and economic viability of fresh coconut marketing. Cross-sectional data was randomly
collected from 120 individual fresh coconut marketers in market centers across the metropolis and
analyzed, using Deconstructed Marketing Margins and Return on Capital Employed. The study revealed
that fresh coconut marketing in the Kumasi metropolis is a viable venture that employs people within
the economically active age group. Actors in the market have very low educational background with
some having no formal education. It has been identified as a safe net for school drop outs, proving
meaningful employment for them. Fresh coconut marketing has been found as a lucrative venture to
economically empower both men and women to improve their livelihoods. With a minimum of
GH₡18.00, as a start-up capital, one can enter into this venture and receive proportionate returns.
Actors in the market receive rates of returns several times higher than fixed-deposit interest rate in the
Ghanaian economy because they can turn over their relatively low capital several times in the year to
accrue more profit. Retailing, though needs a very small start-up capital, is the most profitable level
along the distribution channel. Transporting and distributing fresh coconut from the production centre
to the consumer market is more profitable than rationing them to retailers and wholesalers in the
marketplace.
Key words: Economic viability, deconstructed market margin, sedentary wholesaler, itinerant wholesaler.
