An analysis of beef demand in a nigerian urban city

The level of beef demand and consumption in Nigerian cities has been questionably and progressively low. This study empirically modeled a demand function of beef meat in Lagos city with the aim of identifying major demand shifters. Based on the regression analysis, unit retail price of beef and disposable income were found to have significant and direct influences on the quantity of beef demanded. Further, trend and policy shift variables represented as SAP dummy were found to have significant but inverse effect on quantity of beef demanded. The study further showed that the quantity of beef (in number and meat equivalent) slaughtered has been on the decline and as such, the per caput beef consumption has become considerably lower over the years, when compared with the minimum value recommended for Nigeria by FAO. The future demand of beef is however estimated to be high. To meet this demand there is the need for both farmers and government to increase production levels of cattle by removing the bottlenecks in livestock husbandry. Keywords: Beef, demand function, demand projection, animal protein, urban city. (Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences: 2002 9(1): 7-12