COMPARATIVE DEMAND AND PREFERENCE ANALYSIS OF LOCALLY PROCESSED AND IMPORTED RICE AMONG HOUSEHOLD IN SOKOTO METROPOLIS

Abstract

ABSTRACT Rice is a necessity good consumed largely as a staple food; two brands of rice are consumed in Nigeria, the locally processed and the imported rice. While some consumers prefer locally processed rice, others prefer imported brand and some prefer both brands as a result certain attributes associated with each brands. The study was conducted at Sokoto metropolis to analyze comparative demand and preference of locally processed and imported rice. Data was obtained through structured questionnaires, two stage sampling technique was employed to sample the study’s respondents, where the metropolis was divided into Sokoto north, Sokoto south and parts of wamakko in the first stage and three areas each were sampled on the basis of predominant income classes into low income, middle income and high income classes, in the second stage ten households each were sampled from the three areas which came up with a sample size of 90 respondents. Data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and regression analysis. The result on socio-economic characteristics revealed that age, household size, income, marital status has a positive impact on the demand of both brands of rice, while educational attainment has an inverse relationship with the demand. The result on quantity demanded showed that the coefficient of own price for both brands of rice was inelastic (0.509 and 0.399) both statistically significant at 1%, which indicated that rice is not a luxury good but a necessity. Results on consumer preference indicated that a higher percentage of consumers prefer locally processed rice, and a reasonable percentage prefers both. The result for willingness to pay revealed that consumers are willing to pay for both brands of rice irrespective of price, income and perception. From the findings of the study, it is recommended that efforts at increasing quality of local rice should be intensified as this will increase its demand and reduce the patronage for imported brand. It is also recommended that government should embark on rice farming as this will help in enhancing the supply of locally processed rice at cheap prices.