Gender issues in economics of fish farming in Maiduguri and environs

This study focused and examined gender issues in economics of fish farming in Maiduguri and its environs. The socio-economic characteristics of the fish farmers were examined. The profitability of the industry and constrains affecting fish farming in the study area were analyzed. Stratified random sampling technique was used due to the heterogeneous nature of the population considering 30% of the fish farmers as the sampled size. Descriptive statistics and net farm income were used to analyse the data obtained. It was revealed that 81.25% of the respondents were male while female fish farmers represented 18.75% of the respondents. 84.40% of the respondents had tertiary education while farmers with secondary certificate and adult education constituted 12.50% and 3.10% respectively. Net farm income profitability analysis of male and female farmers were N193,767:00 and N445,557:00 respectively. It was also observed that the major constraints militating against fish farming in the study area were scarcity of fingerlings, lack of improved technology, inadequate capital, high cost of equipments, lack of land and management difficulties. It was recommended that adequate training, continuous capacity building and improved technology in fish production must be made available to farmers: and farmers should have access to sources of fingerlings