Factors influencing participation in homestead catfish production in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Domestic fish production in Nigeria has been growing for the past decade, yet a widening demand-supply gap has persisted leading to a substantial loss in Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings due to fish imports. In order to boost household food fish supply many individuals have converted available land space within their homestead for catfish production. This study, therefore, investigated the effects of socio-economic variables on the participation in homestead catfish production in the Central Agricultural Zone of Delta State, Nigeria. Using data from 137 respondents engaged in catfish farming, the findings showed a mean age of 44 years for catfish farmers and an average land size of 104.35 m2 for pond construction. The probit model had a good fit with a Psuedo-R2 of 0.62, 90.5 % of cases correctly predicted, and a significant likelihood ratio (LR) test (p < 0.01). Results of the probit analysis indicated that pond location, age, land area, adults per household, years of education, disposable income, and access to credit exerted a positive and significant effect on homestead catfish production participation decision.