ABSTRACT
The main objective of this study was to evaluate
the patterns and determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption in urban and
rural areas of Enugu State, Nigeria. The study was articulated based on the
fact that despite the relatively cheap and abundant sources of micro nutrients
found in fruits and vegetables, there abound wide spread cases of micro
nutrient deficiencies. The data was collected from primary sources through a
set of questionnaire administered to 240 respondents. The study employed both
purposive and random sampling technique in the selection of the respondents.
The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, Working –Leser
functional form of regression and z- test statistic. Citrus, mango,
plantain/banana, pineapples, papaya, star apple were the major types of fruits
consumed, while, telferia, tomatoes, onions, garden eggs, okra and oha were the
major vegetables consumed by the households. The result also showed that the
average monthly consumption of fruit per household during the dry season was
17.8kg and 9.8kg for urban and rural areas, respectively while the average
monthly consumption per household of fruits during the rainy season was 15.32kg
and 12.87kg for urban and rural areas, respectively. It was 8.68kg for urban
and 23.29kg for rural areas for vegetables during the dry season while it was
6.98kg for urban areas and 28.43kg for rural areas per monthly per household
during the rainy season. The average budget share was 0.0849 for vegetables for
households in the urban areas and 0.0690 for those in the rural areas. When
pooled together; it was 0.0828 for fruits and 0.0769 for vegetables.
Household’s monthly expenditure, number of adult females, age of household
head, educational attainment of the household head, price, season and sex were
determinants of fruit consumption in the urban areas. Total monthly expenditure,
number of children, number of adult females, age of household head, educational
attainment of household head and sex were determinants of vegetable consumption
in the urban areas. In the rural areas, number of children, age of the
household head, educational attainment of the household head, price of fruits
and season were determinants of fruits consumption, whereas, total expenditure,
number of adult males, number of adult females, age of household head,
educational attainment of the household
head and price of vegetables were determinants of vegetable consumption. All
these variables were significant at various levels of probability ranging from
one to ten percent with different signs. Income elasticities were below one;
ranging from 0.47 to 0.70. The income elasticity for fruit in urban areas was
0.60 and 0.47 in the rural areas. It was 0.60 for vegetables in the urban areas
and 0.49 in the rural areas. It is therefore recommended that there is need to
put in place policies to promote and support fruit and vegetable consumption.
Secondly, attention should focus on the processing of fruits and vegetables
into forms that can be stored. This will reduce post – harvest losses as well
as making fruits and vegetables available in all the seasons. Again, education
and behaviour change programmes to promote fruit and vegetable consumption
should be mounted. Fruit and vegetable production should be encouraged
particularly in the rural areas. In the same vein, feeder roads should be built
and already built ones maintained. This will help transport these produce to
the urban areas. This will also promote availability and affordability of these
products.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title.. ..
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. i
Certification.. ..
.. .. .. .. . .. .. .. ii
Dedication.. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. iii
Acknowledgement.. ..
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. iv
Abstract..
.. ..
. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. vi
Table of Contents.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ix
List of Tables.. ..
.. ..
.. .. .. .. .. .. x
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.. 1
1.1
Background Information.
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1
1.2
Problem Statement… .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4
1.3
Objectives of the Study…
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. 6
1.4
Hypotheses… .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7
1.5
Justification… .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7
1.6
Limitations of the Study..
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE.. .. 10
2.1.1 The Meaning of Fruits and vegetables.. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. 12
2.1.2 Importance of Vegetables.. .. .. .. ..
.. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
13
2.1.3 Importance of Fruits.. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. 15
2.1.4 Demand and Consumption Theory.. .. ..
.. .. .. ..
.. .. 18
2.1.5 Household Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
Pattern.. .. .. 20
2.1.6 Expenditure Elasticity of Food.. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
22
2.1.7 Household Budget Share.. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. .. ..
.. 25
2.1.8 Household Income.. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. .. ..
.. .. 28
2.1.9
Market Supply for Fruits and Vegetables .. .. ..
31
2.2.0 Prices and Availability of Fruits and
Vegetables.. .. ..
.. .. 36
2.2.1 Consumer Preferences.. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. 38
2.2.2 Costs and Feasibility of On-Farm Production.. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. 41
2.2.3 Intra household Decision –Making
Process.. .. ..
.. .. .. ..
43
2.2.4 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework.. ..
.. .. ..
.. 44
2.2.5 Analytical Framework … .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..48
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY… .. .. .. ..
.. 50
3.1
Study Area… .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 51
3.2
Sampling Procedure… .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 53
3.3 Data
Collection… .. .. ..
.. .. .. .. .. 53
3.4 Data
Analysis… .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 53
3.5
Model Specification… .. .. .. .. ..
.. . 54
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS.. .. .. .. 57
4.1
Households Socio-economic Characteristics… ..
.. .. 57
4.2
Types and Quantities of Fruits and Vegetables Consumed by the
Households.. .. 59
4.3
Consumption Patterns in Urban and Rural Households…. 61
4.4
Paired Sample Test of the Differences between the consumption of Fruits
and Vegetables in Urban and Rural areas of Enugu State.. .
62
4.5
Budget Shares of Fruits and Vegetables in Urban and Rural
Households… .. 63
4.6
Determinants of Fruits and Vegetables Consumption among Urban and Rural
Households in Enugu State… .. .. .. 64
4.7
Demand Elasticities for Fruits and Vegetables in Enugu State.. 75
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION… .. .. .. .. .. 78
5.1
Summary… .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 78
5.2
Conclusion… .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 80
5.3
Recommendation… .. ..
. .. .. .. .. 80
REFERENCES
… .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. 82
LIST
OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Socio-Economic Characteristics of the
Urban Respondents 58
Table 4.2: Socio-Economic Characteristics of the
Rural Respondents 59
Table 4.3: Types and Quantities of Fruit and
Vegetable Consumption.. among the Respondents .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
.. …60
Table 4.4: Consumption Patterns of Fruits and
Vegetables in Urban and Rural Areas of Enugu State… .. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. 61
Table 4.5:Paired Sample Test of between the consumption
of Fruits and Vegetables in Urban and the Differences Rural areas of Enugu
State.. 63
Table 4.6: Estimated Budget share of Fruits and
Vegetables among
Households in Urban and Rural Areas. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. 64
Table 4.7: Estimates of the Determinants of Fruits
Consumption among Urban Households in Enugu State. = .. .
69
Table 4.8: Determinants of Vegetables Consumption
among Urban Households in Enugu State.
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. 70
Table 4.9: Determinants of Fruits Consumption
among Rural Households in Enugu State. ..
.. . .. ..
.. .. ..
.. 74
Table 4.10: Determinants of Vegetables Consumption
among Rural Households in Enugu State. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. ..
.. .. .
75
Table 4.11: Expenditure (income) Elasticities for
Fruits and Vegetables.77
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Conceptual framework of determinants of
fruit and vegetable Consumption. .. ..
… …. ….. ……. ……….. ……… ……… …47
Figure 2: Map of Enugu state of Nigeria. .. …
.. . …. ….. ….. …….
…….. 55
CHAPTER
ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Low fruit and vegetable intake is the main
contributor of micronutrient deficiencies in the developing world especially in
population with low intake of animal protein foods such as meat and dairy
products. World Health Organization (WHO) (2003) estimated that low intake of
fruits and vegetables caused about 19% gastro- intestinal cancers, about 31% of
ischemic heart disease and 11% of stroke. Of the global burden attributable to
low fruit and vegetable consumption, about 85% was from Cardiovascular Diseases
(CVD) and 15% from cancers. It estimated that about 2.7 million deaths were
recorded yearly arising from these chronic diseases.
The implication of the emerging scenario is that
2.7 million lives could be saved each year with sufficient global fruit and
vegetable consumption. According to the WHO/FAO (2003), the set population
nutrient goals and recommended intake was put at a minimum of 400g for fruits
and vegetables per day for the prevention of chronic heart diseases, cancer,
diabetes and obesity. The report also stated that there was convincing evidence
that fruits and vegetables decreased the risk of obesity and evidence abound
also that they probably decreased the risk of diabetes. Furthermore, there is
convincing evidence that fruits and vegetables lower the risk of CVD.
Micro-nutrient deficiency resulting from low fruit
and vegetable intake has been associated with various economic consequences.
This is exemplified in a study in Ethiopia, (Croppenstedt and Muller, 2000).
The result showed that nutritional status affected agricultural productivity
and elasticities of labour productivity. Thus proving that there is a
significant link between health and nutritional status and agricultural productivity.
However, in spite of this growing body of evidence
highlighting the protective effects of fruits and vegetables, their intakes are
still grossly inadequate both in developed and developing countries (IARC,
2003).
Analyses of family budgets suggest that the poorer
the family, the greater is the proportion of the total expenditure on food thus
obeying Engel’s law (Blissard et al, 2003). Engel’s Law states that as income
rises, percentage of income spent on consumption rises slower as compared to
rise in income. According to (Blissard et al, 2003), many analyses of family
budgets conclude that the proportions of income devoted to various groups of
commodities not only change with increasing income as stated in Engel’s law but
also vary systematically.
Fruits and vegetables have been known to exhibit
substantial heterogeneity with regard to demand, supply and trade
characteristics (Damianos and Demoussis, 1992).
On the demand characteristics, most fruits and vegetables exhibit higher
income elasticities than that for overall food consumption. This implies that as income rises, the share
of fruits and vegetables within the food budget also rises. The overall demand
for fruits and vegetables are income elastic despite the relatively high share
of fruits and vegetables in the food budget.
Fruit and vegetable production are characterized
by a strong seasonal dimension, leading to substantial price fluctuation and
income instability during the marketing period.
This is basically because as horticultural plants, they exhibit price
elasticity supply responses. A small
increase in price can result in huge production increases (Damianos and
Demoussis, 1992). If prices were allowed
to fall to accommodate the increased supply, fruits and vegetables that exhibit
inelastic demand would record a reduction in income. If, on the other hand, the demand is elastic,
a drop in prices caused by increased supply will be followed by a more than
proportional increase in the quantity demanded (Bergman, 1984). Low income households are more responsive to
price changes for vegetables, but less responsive to fruits (Dong and Lin,
2009). On the other hand, it is
estimated that most countries in the sub- Saharan Africa have income elasticities
for fruits greater than the elasticities for vegetables (Ruel et al, 2004).