Socio-economic characteristics of small-scale catfish farming enterprise in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study of the socioeconomic characteristics of any group is a requirement to a successful implementation of effective government assisted programme. The study examined the socioeconomic characteristics, production processes and production constraints of small-scale catfish fishing enterprises in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area in Rivers State, Nigeria. Simple randomized sampling technique was used to select 60 small-scale catfish farming enterprises. Structure questionnaires were used to collect primary data from the respondents. The collected information were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics. The results showed that majority of the farmers were females (58%), married (74%), within the age group (31-40 years), Christians (92%), Igbo tribe (22%), and had university degree (58%) with household size (6-10). Majority have fish farming as primary occupation (32%), 1-5 years of experience, non-members of association (83%) and chose fish farming for profit maximization (50%). Based on this study, different aquaculture production systems were identified at the study area such as concrete tanks (34%), plastics tanks (20%), concrete+plastic (20%), earthen ponds (12%), earthen+concrete (8%), and earthen+plastics (6%). Respondents purchased land (66%), kept record (52%), used imported feed (52%), flow-through techniques (88%), monoculture as culture system (66%), stocked Clarias gariepinus (88%), borehole as water source (96%), procured fingerlings from private farms (84%) and personal savings as source of funding (86%). Some of the constraints like lack of extension service (76%), disease outbreak (52%), lack of capital (44%), lack of electricity (38%), preservation and processing (18%), lack of skilled human labour (10%), and lack of government assisted programmes (0%) were faced. In conclusion, catfish farming promises to improve in the area if there is adequate government assistance.

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Determinants of demand and supply of microcredit among fish farmers in Osun State

“…This further implied a moderate household. There is the likelihood that the size of the household may influence the number of hired laborers, thereby reducing cost (William et al, 2012;Amachree et al, 2019). The majority (95.8%) of fish farmers have formal education.…”

The role of women in artisanal fishing on the Oléria River, Marajó archipelago, Brazil

“…We realize the importance of social organizations, such as associations and cooperatives in the region, to fight for public policies and for training for the population. For Amachree et al (2019) membership in the association or cooperative can help fishermen to meet and have access to government funding, as well as technical training.…”