Rice and Non-Rice Staple Consumption Preference among Urban and Rural Communities of Ekiti State, Nigeria

http://www.doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v6i11.22

Abstract

Rice is a strategic commodity compared to other staple foods in the Nigerian economies. The study evaluated a comparative analysis of rice and non-rice staple consumption preference among rural and urban communities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling was used to select 105 households for the study. The primary data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Logit model analysis. The mean age of the rural household was 48 years, while that of the urban household was 47 years. About 64% of the rural households claimed they preferred rice to other food stuffs, while 60% of the urban households claimed that they preferred rice to
other foods. The monthly average quantity of rice, beans, maize, and garri consumed by rural households was 48.82, 18.3, 5.23, and 2.5kg, respectively, while urban households consumed 29.58, 45.36, 4.84, and 5.12kg of rice, beans, maize, and garri, respectively. Factors responsible for the low preference for local rice in the state were education, expenditure on food, and the price of the local rice. Moreover, age, household size, price of rice, and taste are the factors that influence preference for imported rice. There is a need to educate the households about the nutritional quality and taste of the local rice so as to encourage the consumption of this brand of
rice and also sensitize the general populace about the nutritional values of indigenous staple foods to encourage their consumption.