FISH CONSUMPTION AND KNOWLEDGE OF FISH FARMING AMONG INHABITANTS OF DUTSIN-MA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KATSINA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the pattern of fish consumption and knowledge of fish farming in Dutsin-ma Local
Government Area, Katsina State. One hundred and twenty households were randomly selected for the study.
Structured questionnaire and informal interview were used for data collection. Simple descriptive statistics and
multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. Majority of respondents (87.5%) were males, 84.2% were
married, 60% were within the age range of 20 - 40 years and 40.8% of them had a small household size of 1- 5
persons. Majority of the respondents (36.7%) had Arabic education. The area was dominated by civil servants
(33.3%). Monthly income of majority of the households were low (< ₦20,000). However, all these socio-economic
characteristics except area of residence did not affect fish consumption pattern, according to the multiple regression
analysis (R2 = 10.7%), so also for knowledge of fish farming (R2 =14.2%). Despite 90% of respondents claimed they
know that fish can be cultured, 69.2% do not know how to culture fish. A vast majority (91.7%) indicated their
willingness to be trained on fish farming. Many respondents (64.2%) identified lack of finance as a constraint.
Consumption of fish is significantly low in Dutsin-ma due to low availability of fish and inadequate knowledge of
fish farming.