A tale of fish in two cities: consumption patterns of low-income households in South India

Abstract

While much is known about fish production patterns and consumption at an aggregate level, there is little understanding of consumption behavior among low-income households in city regions. Given that fish is an important and possibly cheap source of nutrition for millions of poor people, this paper attempts to understand patterns of fish consumption among low-income households in two urban sites in South India, namely Chennai (coastal city) and Bangalore (inland city). By analyzing survey data collected in three different seasons from the same (around 250) households, we are able to infer diverse patterns of fish consumption by low-income households, including purchasing behavior, quality inferences, and trust relations with traders. Our analysis shows that Chennai’s fish consumers rely more on informal markets and possess stronger preferences for certain species of fish while those in Bangalore make more use of formal market structures, displaying indifference toward the type of fish consumed. Our analysis helps to understand low-income consumer behavior while promoting fish for food and nutrition security among these populations in city regions.