ECONOMIC STATUS OF AQUACULTURE IN EKITI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study analysed the economic status of aquaculture in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The sample size for this study was 80 respondents selected via multistage sampling techniques. The primary data were collected through a well-structured questionnaire administered on the selected respondents. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics for socio-economic characteristics, while stochastic frontier production analysis was applied to estimate the technical efficiency. Profitability parameters such as Gross margin, Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR), Return on Investment (ROI) and Percentage Profitability (PP) were used to estimate the cost returns and profitability of aquaculture in the study area. The studies revealed that majority (67.5 percent) of Aquaculturists in the study area were in the age bracket of 30 and 59, while 86 percent of them were males. A typical Aquaculturist in the study area had secondary school education (13.81 years of schooling) with majority (57.5 percent) having less than 5 years of fish farming experience. About 91.6 percent of the production cost is incurred on feed, fingerlings and labour. The study also showed that stock population and pond holdings were the significant factors in the inefficiency model, while the stochastic frontier production model revealed that the cost of feed, cost of labour and cost of fingerlings were the significant factors that contributed to the technical efficiency of Aquaculturists. Data analysis from the study further revealed that a typical Aquaculturist in the study area had a mean technical efficiency of 79 percent. The values of the Gross Margin (N390, 942.80), Benefit-Cost Ratio (1.74), Return on Investment (0.74) and Percentage Profitability) (74.38) indicated that aquaculture is profitable in the study area. However, the inability of farmers to attain the peak of the production frontier could be attributed to some factors such as inadequate capital, disease outbreak, marketing, poaching and predation. Based on the findings, it is recommended that Aquaculturists in the study area should learn how to formulate quality feeds from locally available ingredients so as to reduce the pressure exerted on the total cost of production. Government should provide credit facilities to reduce the problem of inadequate capital facing them. Aquaculturists in the study area should also endeavor to organize themselves into cooperatives to facilitate their access to credit facilities and exchange of ideas. The profitability of aquaculture in the study area is an arrow pointer to prospective investors who are afraid of spending their resources on fish farming, therefore public awareness are needed to further arouse the interest of individuals in aquaculture so as to create wealth and increase the economic profile of fish farmers in the state