Consumer Preferences for Leafy Vegetable among Rural and Urban Dwellers in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

There is need to improve the nutritive value of both rural and urban dwellers through a potential utilization of food resources. This study therefore, analyzed the consumers’ preferences for leafy vegetables in Ibadan metropolis. A purposive sampling technique was used to select markets based on their sizes and notable for vegetable patronage where buck purchases were carried out. A total of 120 marketers were randomly interviewed with the use of well structured questionnaires from 6 selected markets located in five local government areas in Ibadan. Statistical tools used include descriptive statistics using percentages, means and frequencies. While Probit model was used on factors that determine preference for leafy vegetables. The findings revealed that Majority (62%) of the marketers were female. 41% and 39% have primary and secondary education respectively. Results of the individual preference for leafy vegetables indicated that Amaranthus spp. had the highest mean value (3.76) and were ranked first while other vegetables such as waterleaf, celosia, jute mallow, and fluted pumpkin have a mean value of 2.38, 2.53, 2.48, and 2.62 respectively. The Probity model result shows that education is with positive relationship at 10% level of significance. Accessibility, gender and age were significant at 1%, 1%, and 5% respectively and they were positively related with the dependent variable. Therefore, more training on the production of vegetables especially the use of Fadama (flood plain) area during the dry season should be intensified in order to have all year round production and individual be encouraged for backyard farming to improve their preferences.