Rural Households Willingness to Pay for Small Ruminant Meat in South-Western Nigeria

Abstract

Subsistent level of indigenous small ruminant meat production in Nigeria limits its supply and consequently, accounted for its high prices. The study examined the willingness to pay for indigenous small ruminant meat in Ijebu division of Ogun state, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 120 rural households used for the study. The results of the descriptive and Logit regression analyses revealed that rural households head in the study area are mostly females, attained appreciable level of literacy with a means of livelihood and mostly in their middle age. These rural households consumed small ruminant meat regularly, well educated about the nutritional value of the ruminant meat, and mostly, willing to pay the market price of small ruminant meat whenever they are ready to consume the meat. Factors influencing their willingness to pay for small ruminant meat are age of the household head, occupation, distance from market, and price of small ruminant meat. The study recommends the establishment of slaughter houses and small ruminant meat market to consumption areas and in various villages to broaden the market as well as providing improved market access to producers.