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AbstractThis study was carried out to analyse the perceived influence of COVID-19 preventive measures on the profit efficiency of smallholders’ cereal marketers in Cameroon. The study hypothesizes that COVID-19 preventive measures significantly influence cereal marketers’ profit efficiency. A method of sampling, involving multiple stages and random selection, was employed to choose a group of 747 cereal marketers, and was analysed via the stochastic frontier model and beta regression. Cereal marketers are aware of the COVID-19 pandemic (80%), and of the government preventive policy measures (63%). The number of days in lockdown, the costs of hand sanitizer and face masks negatively influence cereal marketers’ profit efficiency while community sensitization positively influence cereal marketers’ profit efficiency. Borrowed money from friends (73%), Borrowed of money from money lenders (69%), withdrawal of savings (70%), material/financial support (37%), sell off assets to meet the daily need (73%), reduction of the quality of meals eaten (66%), and sell off reserved food to earn more money (63%) are the copying strategies used by cereal marketers. The study did not involve control groups that face different levels of exposure, and suggest that control groups could help isolate the effects of preventive measures from other external factors and provide a basis for comparison for further studies. To make preventive outbreak measures effective, price subsidies should be implemented to enable the use and access of hand sanitizer and disposable face masks, and the continuous wide broadcasting through community sensitization.

AbstractThe recent trend of development policy makes emphasis on gender disparity in performance, especially in the agricultural sector whereby women partake and play a crucial role and their contribution to the sector cannot be overemphasized. However, the contention is whether such disparity in performance exists typically at old age or whether it exists at youth age as well. A representative household survey with structured questionnaires and assistance from extension agents who served as enumerators make use of multistage sampling techniques to collect datasets from 1019 young producer-marketers involved in the two value chains from three regions of Cameroon including Far North, North, and West Regions. Findings show that the mean profit efficiency for young males is 0.53, and 0.61 while for young females are 0.59, and 0.69 respectively. The result found a significant difference (.001; .002) in the profit efficiency among young males and females rice and maize producer-marketers due to socioeconomic and financial factors such as household size, cost of transport, tax paid, amount of credit received, membership to the association, cost of labour, cost of seed, cost of herbicides and cost of fertilizer. Findings indicate that there is a need to set up agrochemical and improved seed varieties subsidy schemes with special attention given to young female rice and maize producer-marketers given that cost of agrochemical and improved seed varieties significantly affect their profitability. Young females engaged in the rice and maize value chains could benefit from setting up labour-sharing arrangements for mutual help.