Determinants Of Household Beef Consumption

There is an increase of the world demands for meat due to the population growth,urbanization and rising income,most especially in the developing countries.Thus,the determinants of meat consumption more specifically among households are still under investigation in many parts of the world.However,the growth increasing meat(beef)consumption is accompanied by the great safety concerns for meat(beef)and an idea of reduced meat(red meat)consumption due to the health effects of consuming unsafe meat and meat products.The aim of the study is to determine the factors that influence household beef consumption from a survey in Kano State,Nigeria.However,the study have two specific objectives: 1.To determine the factors influencing household beef purchase intention using the extended theory of planned behavior and 2.To determine whether the consumers of beef are willing to pay for in order to consume safe beef.The reason for the inclusion of the last objective is that,the current Nigerian beef consumption has been growing most especially in the urban cities,with increase concerns for its safety.Thus,the later objective was achieved using the contingent valuation method.The previous literatures focused on the socioeconomic factors as the major determinants of household beef consumption.However,the present study goes beyond these factors and established the factors based on the extended theory of planned behavior.The study contributes to the literature of Nigerian household beef consumption by exploring the factors that are crucial in understanding the attitudes and behaviors of different households.The data for this study were collected from primary source which involve the direct face to face interviews with 525 respondents from Kano State(Kano Municipal,Dala,Gwale,Fagge and Tarauni),Nigeria.Furthermore,the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics(frequency,percentage,standard deviation and mean),binary probit regression model with marginal effects.The main findings of the study revealed that the respondents had preference for beef and their monthly beef expenditure was $24.5.The general market was the main beef shopping place for the majority.A great number of the respondents gave much attention to beef freshness and taste before purchase decision.Also,76% of them were expected to increase their future beef purchase.Furthermore,all the e-TPB variables were found to be positively determinants of household beef purchase intention expect subjective norm,which surprisingly has a negative influence on beef purchase.Moreover,81.3% of the consumers were curious about hygienic condition of selling places and were willing to pay premium for its improvement.Similarly,56.9% the consumers are willing to pay an additional price for beef safety and their mean willingness to pay was 135.79 N/kg.Likewise,the empirical result shows that the consumers' age,income,education,safety perception,taste and awareness for consuming unsafe beef were the positive determinants of WTP;meanwhile gender and health risk negatively influenced willingness to pay premium price for safe beef.The respondents were found to be highly aware of safety status of beef in the study location.The findings further show that beef market in Nigeria has not been exploited to its full potentials.These findings would be useful to the policy makers,industry experts and practitioners in meeting existing and increasing consumer demands for beef and beef substitutes.The documented participant's interest in the safety and quality of beef disclosed that favorable market for beef could be expanded by sufficient knowledge on how to improve the safety of beef.It can notify further consumers and market study associated to the development of healthier beef.