Assessment of meat demand: A case study in the University of Ibadan for beef enterprise

Poor adherence to food safety and wholesome practices in meat processing and handling is a common phenomenon in some public abattoirs in Nigeria. The quality of beef consumed by the University community is an issue of concern. Information on the extent of beef patronage has not been documented. Thus, beef demand at the University of Ibadan abattoir was assessed. Ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections by the  University Veterinarian were performed on slaughter days from January 2013 to April 2015. The data collected were customer: day of purchase, Department/Unit, sex and rank. The quantity demanded and the parts requested were also noted. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that a total of 22,884 contacts were recorded. An increase in patronage from 42.24% in 2013 to 57.76% in 2014 was evident. Women (53.60%) requested for meat than male counterpart. The requests for 1-2kg, 2-4kg and above 4kg at a time were 58.9%, 19.1% and10.0% respectively. For the day of purchase, the patronage was higher on Fridays (59.20%) as compared to Wednesdays. The last week of the month attracted higher demand (36.20%) than weeks 1 (21.0%), 2 (22.3%) and 3 (20.5%). A noticeable increase in demand was during festive periods. A high percentage occurred in the number of customers that specified the actual parts (63.5%) of the meat requested and those that did not while females specified more (57.82%) than males. Highest preference for special parts was observed among the Professors (45%). More patronage was observed for people at closer Departments/Unit to the abattoir. It may be concluded that day of slaughter, proximity to slaughter house, sex, status and special occasions are vital factors that affect beef demand enterprise in the University of Ibadan. Keywords: Beef demand; slaughter house; University of Ibada