CONSUMER PREFERENCES AND CONSUMPTION PATTERNS FOR FISH IN UGANDA

Halasi Gidongo Zech*, Hyuha Theodora Shuwu, Elepu Gabriel, Ekere William, Walekwa Peter, Molnar Joseph, Sloans Chimatiro Kalumba and Hillary Egnar
 
Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics
College of Agricultural Sciences
 Makerere University
P.O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda
gidongohz@gmail.com
 

The current government policy on aquaculture is promotion of the subsector to complement dwindling capture fisheries supplies from the wild to improve nutrition and eradicate poverty. Much as the government is pursuing this policy there exists limited information on consumer behavior between captured and farmed fish. The objective of this study was to establish consumer preferences and consumption patterns for the two categories of fish. This study was carried out in selected districts representative of Uganda's fish consuming community that is, Nebbi, Kampala, Busia, Kasese, Kisoro and Kabale. A total of 350 consumers were randomly selected and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyze the data.

The results show that consumers' average age was 33 years, had a household size of 6.74 persons and earning 628,200UGx monthly. Distance to the fish source was 3.49km and 70% of the respondents had eaten fish as a protein source for an average of 23 years. 92.5% bought tilapia which was mainly (62.2%) captured fish. When buying fish, 70% of fish consumers considered fish species as the most important attribute. The majority (55%) of consumers purchased their fish from traditional markets and the rest from roadside markets and landing sites. On average, consumers bought fish about 6 times per month, resulting in total consumption of 13.86kgs. There was a general preference (56%) for fish above 500gm. Many consumers (67.5%) preferred smoked fish and mainly (75%) prepared fish by boiling. 30% of the Consumers indicated that farmed fish in most cases was small size (< 300gm) and bonny. Some considered small size as a deterrent to their taking farmed fish as their purchase choice. 33% testified to have ever tasted farmed fish and noted its soil like smell.

Econometric results show that distance to fish market / supply source, annual household income, education level and perceived quality significantly affected fish consumption patterns. In view of the results, it is recommended that researchers should breed fleshy easy to farm fish species which can grow to 500gm preferred by consumers. In order to address the issue of muddy fish smell, there may be a need to design fish production systems that avoid fish proximity with mud during the production process or have fish flushed with flesh water for the last week before sell to have any debris cleaned from the gills area.