ANALYSIS OF CONSTRAINTS TO AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN SUDANO-SAHELIAN REGION OF NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was carried out to examine constraints to fish farming in Sudano-sahelian region of Nigeria. Data was collected using trained enumerators from all known and accessible fish farms in Katsina state. The findings of the research revealed that majority of the farmers (88.6%) were male, they are all married, and larger proportion (45.7%) is between 50 and 59 years of age, with 31.7% having postgraduate education, but majority of them (62.9%) are less than 5 years in the business. Analysis of constraints showed that disease infestation (51.5%), water quality (54.4%), Technical expertise (71.4%), high cost of feeding (94.3%), feed quality (57.1%), market availability (60%), inadequate capital (88.6%), and fish seed (62.9%) are constraints to aquaculture development in the region. Among the listed constraints, disease infestation, high cost of feeding, technical expertise and inadequate capital are more important because they exist at a severe level, while high cost of feed and inadequate were ranked as major constraints. Therefore for any meaningful development of aquaculture industry in the region, these constraints must be resolved.