CONSUMPTION PATTERN OF CHEVON AND CHICKEN AMONG HOUSEHOLDS IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the consumption pattern of Chevon and Chicken by households in Ondo state. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 200 households in Ondo State, Nigeria. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean in addition to Almost Ideal Demand System(AIDS) model and multiple regression analysiswere used to analyse the data collected.Majority(54%) of the respondents was male, with average age of 44 years old, while majority of the respondents (80%) can read and write. Most of them were married people (69%).Many (54.0%) of the respondents had household sizes between one (1) and four (4) while majority of the household heads had only primary occupation and largely 43.5% were civil servants. The average household head in the study area earned N 43,187 monthly.The results also showed that most respondents in the area preferred chicken to chevon, (52% to 34%) and as first choice of meat. On monthly basis, most households in the study area consumed chicken thrice against twice for chevon.They consumed 3kg of chicken to 2kg ofchevon on the average,and therefore households spent more amount of money in purchasing chicken than chevon. The AIDS model results revealed that own-price elasticities of two meat types studied are one and have negative signs which conforms to the law of demand implying that change in prices of both chevon and chicken will cause an equal proportional change in their consumption expenditure in the study area, while their cross-price elasticities to each other were positive, meaning that chevon and chicken were substitutes. The coefficients of the expenditure elasticities were positive, suggesting that the meat types were necessities in the diets of households. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the price of chevon, price of chicken, price of closest substitute for chicken, the household size and estimated monthly income of the households were the major determinants of chevon and chicken consumption. Based on the findings of the study,it was concluded that most respondents preferred chicken to chevon, while the two meat types were substitutes to one another and considered by consumers to be necessity items in the diets. It was recommended that government should formulate policies that will aid sustainable household food security by encouraging households to keep detailed records of their demand for food especially meat, and introduce monitoring agency(s) that will be able to stabilize the prices of meat in the study area. More neighbourhood markets and abattoirs should be constructed by the government, while the existing ones should be encouraged to sell all sorts of generally acceptable meat, especially chevon that has few selling outlets in comparism to beef, chicken, turkey and frozen fish so as to make consumers to get at their convenience.