This page presents an excerpt of the available research material, including the Preliminary Pages, Table of Contents, Abstract, Chapters One to Five, and References. It provides a comprehensive overview of the study, enhancing readability and accessibility for students, and researchers seeking complete material on “Women Participation in Fish Processing and Packaging”.
I am profoundly grateful to everyone who contributed to the successful completion of this project. I am especially grateful to my Supervisor (Name), the Head of Department (Name), and the Lecturers in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension for their invaluable guidance and support. I also acknowledge the contributions of authors and scholars whose works on Women Participation in Fish Processing and Packaging provided essential insights. Special thanks go to my study area (and any funding organizations, if applicable) for their financial assistance. I am equally thankful to stakeholders, including mentors, teachers, and colleagues, for their encouragement and support. Finally, I deeply appreciate my family and friends for their patience and unwavering support throughout this journey. Your contributions have been instrumental in making this research a reality.
The study investigated Women participation in fish processing and packaging in Delta State, Nigeria. Multi stage sampling procedure was used in the selection of 180 respondents for the study. The aim of the study is to determine the Women participation in fish processing and packaging using Delta State rural communities as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out to identify the various fish processing methods used by the respondents in the study area, describe the socio-economic characteristics of the women, identify the processing methods adopted by the women, identify the processing equipment types used by the women, identify the energy sources used by the women in fish processing, and identify the materials used in the packaging process in the study area. Data for the study was collected using structured questionnaire, focus group discussion and participatory observation. Data collected were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics, mean scores and inferential statistics. The result indicated that majority of the women were married (57%) and literate with few having non-formal education (38%). The result further indicated that the three major processing methods used by the women to include hot smoking (57%), air drying (25%), and salting (19.4%). Packaging methods include baskets (47.2%), paper cartons (37.2%), jute bags (46.0%) and palm rope (58.0%) used in tying staked fish. The probit regression analysis on socio-economic factors affecting participation of women in fish processing and packaging indicated that age (0.00642***), education (0.00256**), income (0.3609**), access to credit (0.00068**), household size (0.2475**) and access to market (0.03150**) are all positive and significantly related to participation of women in fish processing and packaging. The study recommends the formation of cooperative societies among themselves to ease off some of the problems they encountered in their enterprise.
1.1 Introduction
Fish processing is the process associated with the fish and fish products between the time the fish are caught or harvested and the time the final product is delivered to the consumers. The processing and preservation of fish is of utmost important because it is susceptible to deterioration immediately after harvest and to present economic losses (Okonta and Ekelemu, 2005). If fish is not sold fresh, preservation methods should be applied to extend the shell-life. These include freezing, smoking, drying and heat treatment. Lack of adequate fish handling, processing techniques and storage facilities constitutes significantly to the low supply of fish to poor rural communities. The long distance and distribution channels necessitated some processing and storage, small preservation through refrigeration is not readily available due to poor distribution of authority (Agbon et al., 2002). Efficient preservation of fish is important when top quality, maximum yield and highest possible profits are to be achieved (Davies and Davies, 2009).
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
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