Demand analysis for chicken meat, beef and fish among urban households in Edo and Delta states, Nigeria

Recent increases in population growth has created an additional demand for meat in developing countries. Nigeria has the largest population in sub-Saharan Africa, with about 47% of the population residing in the urban areas where the population growth rate is estimated at three times that in rural areas. This suggests a shift in increased food demand from the rural to the urban areas and explains the need to know the demand for meat (which is an important source of nutrient) from different animal sources. This study focused on demand analysis forchicken meat, beef and fish among urban households in Edo and Delta States. The complete demand functions of the various meat types were estimated. The primary data used in this analysis were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of urban chicken meat, beef and fish consuming households in Edo and Delta States. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 300 respondents for this study. The Linear Approximate Almost Ideal Demand System was used in analyzing the demand functions of chicken meat, beef and fish. Findings showed that the demand for chicken meat, beef and fish in the study area was so much a matter of own-price, cross-prices and income. The results of the LA/AIDS showed that for the entire sample, chicken had an expenditure coefficient of -0.0007 (p Ë‚ 0.01). With respect to Edo State, chicken had a budget share of -0.2253, cross price effect of 0.1938 with beef and expenditure coefficient of -0.0006 (p Ë‚ 0.01, p Ë‚ 0.05 and p Ë‚ 0.01 respectively). With regards to Delta State, chicken had a budget share of 0.1939. Chicken had a cross price effect of -0.2790 with beef (p Ë‚ 0.10), while beef had a budget share of 0.5694, cross price effect of -0.2790 with chicken and expenditure coefficient of 0.1170 (p Ë‚ 0.01, p Ë‚ 0.10 and p Ë‚ 0.05 respectively). It is recommended that production of chicken meat and the other selected meat types should be increased to meet the present demand. Prices of these commodities should be regulated to avoid the erratic price fluctuations and efforts should be geared towards improving the income earning capacity of households so as to enable them demand for these commodities effectively