AN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF YAM CONSUMPTION PATTERN AMONG RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN UMUAHIA AGRICULTURAL ZONE OF ABIA STATE

Abstract

The study assessed the consumption pattern of yam among rural households’ in Umuahia agricultural zone of Abia state. Specifically, the study described the socioeconomic characteristics of heads of rural households in the study area; ascertained the food forms of yam consumed by rural households in the study area; assessed the frequency of yam consumption among rural households in the study area. Multi-stage random sampling procedure was adopted to select the respondents for the the study. Primary data were collected from 120 rural household heads that were used for the study. Data were collected through the use of a well-structured questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results obtained showed that the age of respondents were 48.2 years. The majority (50.8%) of household heads were males with a mean household size of six persons. The results showed a moderate literacy level among the respondents with a mean farming experience of 12.93 years with a mean annual farm income of N592, 833. The result on the food forms of yam showed that most (48.51%) of the respondents consume boiled yam on the frequency of 2-3 times/week, while 57.50% of the respondents eat roasted yam once in a while. The preference pattern result showed that among the yam food forms, boiled yam was the most preferred with 50.83% at the first preference ranking. The mean monthly expenditure of yam among the respondents’ was N83,666; 32.5% of them had no contact with extension workers and 57.5% were members of one cooperative organization or the other. It was therefore recommended that the rural dwellers should expand and improve on their yam farming techniques and become members of cooperative societies so as to enjoy the benefits that accrue to cooperators from government and private agencies.