Exploitation and Inefficiency in Cameroon Food Marketing Systems–Myth or Reality?: Some Evidence from the West Province

Urbanization and the food crisis have contributed to increased allegations of consumer exploitation and inefficiency in African food marketing systems. This article investigates the question of consumer exploitation and inefficiency in the food crop marketing system of the West Province of Cameroon. Exploitation is evaluated in terms of net marketing margin, and efficiency in terms of the provision of foodstuffs at competitive prices, consistent with the cost of moving commodities from producers to consumers, under prevailing conditions. Multiple regression models are employed to evaluate the determinants of gross marketing margins for vendors of four food commodities—plantain, maize, tomato, and potato. Findings suggest that the food marketing system is highly competitive with no formal entry barriers, and that allegations of consumer exploitation are largely unfounded. Given the multiplicity of economic constraints facing food vendors, they appear to carry out their marketing functions with a surprising degree of efficiency.