Analysis of Fresh Catfish Marketing among Natural Fishpond Users in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analyzed fresh catfish marketing among natural fishpond users in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample size of 120 respondents and analyzed using mean score, frequency, percentage and enterprise budgeting. The result indicated that 49.2% of the respondents fell between the age of 25 and 40 years, 65.0% were females while more than half (63.3%) of the respondents were married. The mean household size of the respondents was 6.15 persons while 57.5% of them had household size of between 6 and 10 persons. Majority (67.5%) of the respondents had secondary school education while the majority (50.8%) of the marketers had 11–20 years of marketing experience. More so, majority (75.8%) of the marketers financed their business with their personal savings. On the costs and return analysis, the total revenue realized by the marketers was ₦3,998, 200 while net return on investment was 1.3. Majority (75.8%) of the marketers identified that the major distribution channel for fresh catfish in the area was from the suppliers to the retailers and then to the consumers. The marketers identified inadequate credit facility (x̄=3.00), inadequate fishpond (x̄=2.86), high cost of fish due to high cost of feed (x̄=2.81), unorganized market (x̄=2.75) and price instability (x̄=2.69) as the major constraints. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the government should make provisions for agricultural incentives such as short and long-term loans, with a single digit interest rate for the marketers.