Author(s): Yetunde Agbeja, Elizabeth Oluyede and Victor Oyedepo

Abstract: Fish plays a crucial role in food security and serve as a rich source of nutrient. It also provides jobs and income especially through small-scale fisheries and aquaculture practice in developing countries. However, fisheries are faced with numerous problems particularly that of declining stocks, which threatens the rural populace livelihood. This paper reports the socio-economic characteristics and livelihood coping strategies of fishers in a rural community of Ogun waterside Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. This is with the view to providing information to policy makers towards improving the livelihoods of the rural community, whilst aiming for sustainable fisheries management. The study adopted a quantitative research design of survey type based on a population of fishers including marketers, processors and members of their household in the study area. A two-stage random sampling technique was used for the survey to select the respondents. The first stage involved random selection of villages from LGA, which are Iwopin, Agbalegiyo, Makun-Omi and Ebute Oni. In the second stage the fishers including marketers, processors and members of their household were randomly selected from the four villages. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to elicit response from 197 fishers randomly selected for the study. Data collected from the study were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple response analysis, and profitability analysis. The result of the study revealed the socio-economic characteristics of the fishers and their access to social assets. A comparative analysis of the coping or adaptive strategies to sustaining livelihood in the area indicated that the fishers employed reduction of food intake, sought support from relatives or migrate to another site.

DOI: 10.22271/fish.2021.v9.i2d.2463

Pages: 266-276  |  859 Views  320 Downloads

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