Non zootechnical factors influencing the wholesale trade of ruminants by wholesale traders in the urban community of Niamey

 Corresponding author: M. Bahari Amadou Abdoulaye Copyright © 2025 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0. Non zootechnical factors influencing the wholesale trade of ruminants by wholesale traders in the urban community of Niamey M. Bahari Amadou Abdoulaye 1, *, Issa Hamadou 2, Abdoul Aziz Maman Lawal 2, Ali Bako Ousmane 3 and Hamza Seydou Korombé 4 1 Department of Rural Economics, National Institute of Agronomic Research of Niger. Sociology, and Technology Transfer. P.O. Box: 429. Niamey-Niger. 2 National Institute of Agronomic Research of Niger. Department of Animal Production. P.O. Box: 429. Niamey-Niger. 3 Bako Ousmane Ali Researcher associated with the Laboratory of Studies and Research on Economic Emergence (LAEREE) at Abdou Moumouni University (UAM) in the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management (FSEG). 4 Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Cattle Multiplication Center, Animal Science Service. P.O. Box: 827. Niamey-Niger. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2025, 27(03), 1707-1717 Publication history: Received on 19 August 2025; revised on 25 September 2025; accepted on 27 September 2025 Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2025.27.3.3343 Abstract This study was conducted at the main livestock markets of the urban community of Niamey. It identified the non-zootechnical parameters influencing the sale of cattle by wholesale traders. In the context of the study, sixteen (16) nonzoo-technical parameters were analyzed through multiple linear regression to determine their significance levels. The analysis resulted in seven (7) significant variables. The results obtained revealed the importance of non zoothechnical variables in the process of selling cattle by wholesale traders. Thus, marital status (widowed) and education level (secondary and traditionally illiterate) showed a significant influence of 10% on sales. Cash payment and barter, the Koira Tegui market, and delivery after sale had a significant influence of 5% on sales. The variables of affiliation to an organization, the reason for purchase for breeding, and the location of the Tourakou market revealed a significant influence at 1%. The conditions of significant variables are summarized by membership in an organization, livestock farming, widow status, the markets of Koira Tegui and Tourakou, levels of traditional literacy and secondary education, and payment in cash and by barter. Keywords: Sale; Cattle; Wholesale Merchants; Non Zootecnic Determinants; Urban Community Of Niamey. 1. Introduction Livestock farming represents a major asset in West Africa. The sector contributes 10-15% to the agricultural GDP [4]. The contribution of livestock is estimated through animal products and the resources generated. The sale of live cattle is the main provider of resources for communities in pastoral areas [5]. Niger, classified as a livestock country, has an important population of 24.041.678 UBT [19]. Livestock provides 11% of the national GDP and 35% of the agricultural GDP [20]. The livestock sector represents 3.911 billion Fcfa [19]. The sale of live cattle generates enormous financial resources [4]. The Niamey region is home to a stock of 143.779 UBT across all species, with 73.777 UBT for cattle [19]. The sale of livestock is an important activity for breeders and decentralized entities. Breeders regularly resort to the sale of live World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2025, 27(03), 1707-1717 1708 cattle to meet their needs. Cattle represent the second species to be sold after small ruminants [5]. The importance of livestock in the national economy has led to several studies on the cattle-meat sector. At the regional level, these studies mainly focus on: the explanatory factors of the selling price of Tabaski sheep in Dakar [16], price variations in the small ruminant market in Bouaké [24], the evaluation of livestock-meat value chains in West Africa [25], and the study of the marketing of live cattle in Senegal [22]. The studies conducted at the national level have primarily focused on the role of commercial cattle exploitation in the economy of pastoral households in Niger [5], the impact of exports to Nigeria on the sheep sector in Niger [21], the analysis of the sale by weight of cattle in Gothèye [23], and the marketing of sheep in the Maradi region [1]. These studies mostly focus on sale prices and the zootechnical parameters of the animals. Indeed, very few studies have addressed non zootecnical parameters; this is the case for the work on "Factors associated with selling price of cattle at livestock marts" conducted by [15], which considered the level of education; the study of "Beef cattle value chain analysis" which took into account the selling period in the analysis of animal product sales [3]. In light of the insufficiency of studies regarding non zootecnical parameters in the process of selling live cattle, it is important to focus on works that take these into account. This will provide data serving as a decision-making tool. The present study thus aims to determine the non zootecnical parameters influencing the sale of cattle by wholesale traders in the urban community of Niamey. 2. Materials and method The study was conducted at the level of the five districts of the urban community of Niamey (CUN). It focused on the main livestock markets of the CUN: the markets of the Airport, Koira Tegui, Lazaret, Niamey 2000, Talladjé, Tourakou, and the Right Bank (Figure 1.). Source: Bahari and Moumouni Figure 1 Map of the study area This study is intended for wholesale traders and aims to identify the non zoothechnical factors determining the sale of cattle. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2025, 27(03), 1707-1717 1709 The choice of the sample to be surveyed was estimated using [10 formula: Sample size (n) = [z² * p(1-p)] / e² • z = z-score; • e = margin of error; • p = standard deviation; z = 1.96: Desired confidence level. It corresponds to a 95% confidence level; p = 0.5: Level of indicators to be measured; e = 0.05: Acceptable margin of error. n = (1.96) ² * 0.5 (1-0.5) / (0.05) ² = 385 n = 385. The sample size has been expanded to three hundred eighty-nine surveyed individuals, or n = 389. Data were collected using survey forms. For the needs of the study, five interviewers were recruited. The survey forms are structured around sixteen (16) variables: • The payment method; • The nature of the price; • The location of the market; • The age category; • Marital status; • Gender; • The respondent's ethnicity; • Education level; • The reason for purchase; • The nature of the sale; • The type of supplier; • Affiliation to an organization; • Delivery after sale; • The nature of the sales premises; • The species being marketed; • The nature of the market. The variables are subdivided into several modalities (2 to 7). The analyses were performed using Stata software. The analyses allowed us, through the application of multiple linear regression, to determine the influence of the studied variables on cattle sales. The results obtained were used for writing an econometric model. For the formulation of the model, [13] was used: Y = β0 + β1X1 + β2X2 + ⋯ + βkXk + ε. Taking into account the variables retained in the context of the study, the model is written as: SALES = β0 + β1Payment_Mode + β2Age_Category + β3Education_Level + β4Purchase_Reason + β5Gender + β6Ethnicity + β7Marital_Status + β8Market_Location + β9Organization_Affiliation + β10Delivery + β11Supplier_Nature + β12Price_Nature + β13Sales_Nature + β14Marketed_Species + β15Local_Nature + β16Market_Nature + ε. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2025, 27(03), 1707-1717 1710 The different quantities involved in the final writing of the model are: - SALES: the explained or dependent variable - Payment_Mode, Age_Category, Education_Level, Purchase_Reason, Gender, Ethnicity, Marital_Status, Market_Location, Market_Nature, Organization_Affiliation, Delivery, Supplier_Nature, Sales_Nature, Price_Appreciation, Marketed_Species, Local_Nature: explanatory or independent variables - β0, ..., β16: the parameters to be estimated - ε is the error term. When considering only the significant variables (ethnicity, affiliation to an organization, reason for purchase, marital status, market location, and payment method), the simplified model is expressed as: SALES = β0 + β1Education_Level + β2Reason_Purchase + β3Marital_Status + β4Organization_Affiliation + β5Market_Location + β6Payment_Method + β7Delivery_Sale+𝜺 In conclusion, the values retained for the model are: - SALES: the explained or dependent variable - Purchase_Reason, Education_Level, Marital_Status, Organization_Affiliation, Market_Location, Sales_Delivery, and Payment_Method: explanatory or independent variables - β0 · · · , β7: the parameters to be estimated - ε is the error term. The analysis of the coefficients of the explanatory variables is done in relation to the so-called reference modality. At the level of each variable, the reference modality corresponds to the modality that does not appear in the table of coefficients of the explanatory variables. The analysis involves performing a regression of the so-called qualitative variables on a quantitative variable (sales). To do this, the study had to resort to a linear model with categorization. Thus, linear regression based on the least squares method (LSM) was used. 3. Results Table 1 gives the statistical description of the explanatory variables, the related modalities and their level of significance. Table 1 Descriptive statistics Variables Modalities % Level of Significance Payment method Cash 82.01 p<0.05 Credit Barter 15.17 2.83 Nature Market Collection Grouping Terminal 42.42 21.08 36.50 Not significant Reason for purchase Slaughter 52.70 p<0.01 Breeding 1.54 Sacrifice 26.48 World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2025, 27(03), 1707-1717 1711 Resale 19.28 Price assessment Acceptable 90.75 Not significant High 6.17 Very High 3.08 Level of education Arabic literacy 11.05 p<0.1 Illiterate Traditional literate 26.48 19.79 Primary school 33.93 Secondary 8.74 Market Location Aéroport 11.05 p<0.05 p<0.01 Koira Tegui 6.17 Lazaret 3.08 Niamey 2000 5.40 Rive droite 10.80 Talladjé 6.43 Tourakou 57.07 Marital status Single 16.71 p<0.1 Married Divorced Widower 75.32 3.86 4.11 Commercial_Species Cattle 100 Not significant Gender Male 100 Not significant Ethnicity Djerma 37.28 Not significant Haoussa 44.22 Peul 13.62 Touareg 4.88 Organization Affiliation No 11.57 p<0.01 Yes 88.43 Suppliers Bucher 10.03 Not significant Retailer Breeder 20.31 53.73 Other Wolesaler 15.94 Nature of sale Big 13.27 Not significant Detail Contractual 72.49 16.45 Delivery No 54.24 0.05 Yes 45.76 World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2025, 27(03), 1707-1717 1712 Age category Adolescent 10.54 Not significant Adult 75.58 Elderly 13.88 Local_Nature Straw barn Metal shed Without hangar 19.02 1.29 79.69 Not significant Note: The P-value was used to determine the level of significance. The analysis of Table 1 shows: - The variables affiliation to an organization, purchase motive (breeding), and market location (Tourakou) are significant at 1%; - The variables payment method (cash, barter), post-sale delivery (yes), and market location (Koira Tegui) are significant at the 5% level. - The variables marital status (widower) and education level (traditionally literate and secondary) are significant at 10%. Table 2 presents the results related to the analysis of variance, the overall significance test, and the goodness of fit. Table 2 Analysis of variance table, global significance test and goodness of fit. Residual SS df MS Number of observations = 389 F (35.353) = 2.96 Model 1379.0513 35 39.401466 Prob > F = 0.000 Residual 4703.9204 353 13.325554 R-squared = 0.2267 Adj R-squared = 0.15 Total 6082.9717 388 15.677762 Root MSE = 3.6504 The model is globally significant at 1%. The goodness of fit is average (Root MSE=3.6504). Table 3 describes the coefficients of the explanatory variables used. Table 3 Estimated coefficients of the explanatory variables. Sales Coefficient Std. err. t P>t 95% confidence Interval Age category -0.336611 0.3995949 -0.84 0.4 -1.1225 0.449275 Marital status Divorced 0.2777059 1.095958 0.25 0.8 -1.87772 2.433134 Married -0.570032 0.5346983 -1.07 0.287 -1.62163 0.481562 Widower -2.085499 1.06761 -1.95 0.052 -4.18518 0.014177 Ethnicity Haoussa 0.5924665 0.5277061 1.12 0.262 -0.44538 1.63031 Peulh -0.019227 0.7072504 -0.03 0.978 -1.41018 1.371728 Touareg -0.996847 1.092705 -0.91 0.362 -3.14588 1.152185 Level of education World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2025, 27(03), 1707-1717 1713 Traditional literate -1.566145 0.9447892 -1.66 0.098 -3.42427 0.291978 Illiterate -0.911084 0.8781402 -1.04 0.3 -2.63813 0.815961 Primary school -1.138836 0.752679 -1.51 0.131 -2.61914 0.341463 Secondary -1.738232 1.051736 -1.65 0.099 -3.80669 0.330225 Organization Affiliation Yes 3.44102 0.7076525 4.86 0 2.049275 4.832765 Payment method Cash 1.383473 0.5476191 2.53 0.012 0.306467 2.460479 Barter 2.588453 1.268582 2.04 0.042 0.093524 5.083382 Market Location Koira Tegui 2.209892 1.066491 2.07 0.039 0.112416 4.307369 Lazaret 1.678626 1.345325 1.25 0.213 -0.96723 4.324487 Niamey 2000 1.189172 1.103275 1.08 0.282 -0.98065 3.358991 Rive droite 1.021887 0.9298203 1.1 0.273 -0.8068 2.850571 Talladjé 1.591837 1.039273 1.53 0.126 -0.45211 3.635781 Tourakou 2.296189 0.7370695 3.12 0.002 0.846589 3.745788 Commercial_Species Cattle 0 (omitted) Gender Male 0 (omitted) Reason for purchase Breeding 5.45456 1.685761 3.24 0.001 2.139162 8.769958 Resale 0.7966157 0.6189393 1.29 0.199 -0.42066 2.013888 Sacrifice -0.270739 0.6501442 -0.42 0.677 -1.54938 1.007904 Nature of sale Detail 0.4254342 0.7653105 0.56 0.579 -1.07971 1.930576 Big 1.096716 0.873719 1.26 0.21 -0.62163 2.815066 Price assessment High -1.268005 0.8350233 -1.52 0.13 -2.91025 0.374241 Very High -1.202084 1.15843 -1.04 0.3 -3.48038 1.076208 Delivery Yes -0.88903 0.3900602 -2.28 0.023 -1.65616 -0.1219 Suppliers Bucher 1.274997 0.7963965 1.6 0.11 -0.29128 2.841276 Retailer 0.1038008 0.6425034 0.16 0.872 -1.15982 1.367417 Breeder 0.8023503 0.5572719 1.44 0.151 -0.29364 1.898341 Nature Market Grouping -0.522421 0.5252753 -0.99 0.321 -1.55548 0.510642 World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2025, 27(03), 1707-1717 1714 Terminal 0.5589818 0.4484886 1.25 0.213 -0.32306 1.441027 Local Nature Metal shed 0.1813952 1.782322 0.1 0.919 -3.32391 3.686701 Without hangar -0.586956 0.4952186 -1.19 0.237 -1.56091 0.386994 Constante 3.572307 1.782319 2 0.046 0.067009 7.077606 Note: the OLS method was used for estimating the coefficients of the explanatory variables. Table 4 is a summary of the significant variables. Table 4 Summary of the coefficients of the significant variables. Variables Coefficient Marital status -2.09* (Widower) -1.07 Level of education (Traditional literate) -1.57* -0.94 Level of education (Secondary) -1.74* -1.05 Organization Affiliation (Yes) 3.44*** -0.71 Payment method (Credit) 1.38** -0.55 Payment method (Barter) 2.59** -1.27 Market Location (Koira Tegui) 2.21** -1.07 Market Location (Tourakou) 2.30*** -0.74 Reason for purchase (Breeding) 5.45*** -1.69 Delivery (Yes) -0.89** -0.39 Constante 3.57** -1.78 Observations 389 R-squared 0.23 Note: *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1 World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2025, 27(03), 1707-1717 1715 4. Discussion This study presents an R-squared of 23%. These results are higher than those of several studies conducted on qualitative variables. For qualitative variables, several authors have obtained R-squared values of less than 20% in their work. Notable mentions include [17], [18], [6] and [12]. Affiliation with an organization, purchasing motive, and market location (p <0.01) are significant at 1%. Indeed, compared to non affiliation (reference value), belonging to an organization shows a superior effect. Cattle sales are higher among wholesale traders who are members of an organization. The sales modality for breeding purposes has a significant influence on sales for slaughter taken as a reference value. Sales for breeding reasons far exceed those made for slaughter. Regarding the market location, the Tourakou market modality has a significant influence compared to the Airport market taken as a reference value. Sales are higher among wholesale traders at the Tourakou market compared to those at the Airport market. The Tourakou market is the largest livestock market in the city of Niamey. The mode of payment in cash and by barter, the location of the market (Koira Tegui), and delivery after the sale are all significant (p<0.05) at 5% compared to the values taken as reference. In terms of the mode of payment, the cash and barter modalities have a positive effect compared to the reference value (credit). Cash and barter payments positively impact sales compared to credit payment. It can be concluded that compared to credit, cash and barter sales are more significant. Regarding the location of the market, the Koira Tegui market has a higher effect (positive coefficient) compared to the reference value (airport market). The presence of wholesale traders at the Koira Tegui market positively impacts sales compared to the airport. As for post-sale delivery, it has a lower effect compared to no delivery (reference value). The modality negatively impacts sales compared to the reference value. Post-sale delivery is less important than no delivery. The Widow status has a lower effect (negative coefficient) compared to the reference value (single). The presence of widowed merchants negatively impacts sales compared to singles. Sales are declining among widowed merchants. The education level variable, where the Traditional Literate and Secondary modalities have a lesser impact on sales compared to the reference value (Arabic Literate). Indeed, sales are less significant among Traditional Literate and Secondary individuals than among Arabic Literate individuals. Ultimately, sales are primarily determined by marital status (widowed), affiliation (yes), the reason for purchase for breeding purposes, the market location (Koira Tegui and Tourakou), after-sales delivery (yes), education level (traditionally and secondary literate), and payment in cash and barter. These results demonstrate the importance of non zoothechnical factors in the process of cattle sales by wholesale traders. Therefore, the analysis of the determinants of livestock sales should not be limited to zoothechnical factors. A comprehensive analysis of the determinants of live cattle sales requires consideration of non zoothechnical factors. • [15] reported the importance of the selling period for young cattle in the context of livestock marketing. • [8] reported the significant influence of marital status and the involvement of producers at the organizational level. • [3] mentioned a significant influence of education level on beef production for the market. • [7] and [2] also stated a significant influence of education on the supply of agricultural products in the market. 5. Conclusion The importance of sales is observed at the level of wholesale traders affiliated with an organization and widows. Sales are also determined by the purchase of cattle for breeding, the location of the livestock market (Koira Tegui and Tourakou), post-sale delivery, the level of education (Traditional literate, secondary), and the mode of payment in cash and barter.