Assessment of Key Challenges of Micro, Small and Medium Foundries (MSMFs) in Sabon Gari and Zaria Local Government Areas of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study was carried out to identify the key challenges of micro, small and medium foundries (MSMFs) operating in Sabon Gari and Zaria Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Questionnaire was distributed to respondent as the Primary sources of data collection. A sample size of 196 (managers of micro, small and medium scale Foundries in Kaduna State the respondents sample size was determined using the Yamane’s formula, which is widely applied in survey-based social and industrial research for a population size of 490 managers using stratified random sampling method for the purpose of questionnaire administration. margin of error (-e) was set at 5% for a 95% confidence level. The demographic result revealed that the micro-scale foundries category is majority representing 72.9%, followed by Small-scale foundries (22.5%) while the medium-scale foundry account for only 4.6%. The analysis carried out showed that MSMFs face a lot of challenges. This was evident by the overall mean of 2.72 and standard deviation of 1.04 which marks the severity of specific challenges, as individual variables exhibit extreme values ranging from very low to high. The large standard deviation reflects the divergent nature of challenges. some relating to severe resource deficits, others to operational conditions. This implies that MSME foundries have profound challenges that cannot be remedied through improved management alone but require systemic interventions from government, commercial banks and organizations.