Perception of Women Knowledge on the Nutritive Value of Fish in Kaduna North Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated women knowledge on the nutritive value of fish in Kaduna North local government area of Kaduna State. One hundred and twenty (120) household wives were randomly selected for the study. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Date was analyzed using frequency distribution, percentages, means and logistic regression to determine the factors affecting fish consumption at the household level. The result shows that majority (91.8%) of the respondents were within the age range of between 20-40 years and majority (98.8%) posses formal education. Also a greater proportion (94.29%) of the respondents had moderate household size. Furthermore, majority (65%) belongs to one form of cooperative or the other and vast majority (79.2%) had been in marriage institution for more than 10 years. The respondents perceived the following sources of information about nutritive value of fish as important: home economics staff/extension agents; friends and relatives; books/leaflets; television; and radio. Also the following constraints were perceived as important: availability of fish; household size; method of processing; method of harvesting; and seasonality of fish supply. The following factors in the logistic regression were significant: major occupation of the respondents; years spent in marriage institution and number of years spent in formal education. It is recommended that home economics staff/extension agents and other concerned institutions should be encourage to intensify efforts in creating more awareness on the nutritive value of fish to encourage its consumption, so as to reduce the rate of mal-nutrition in the rural areas.