ANALYSIS OF HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION PATTERN AND PREFERENCES FOR COWPEA PRODUCTS IN NORTH – EASTERN STATES OF NIGERIA
The paper examined the households’ consumption pattern and preference for cowpea products in North – Eastern States, Nigeria. Multistage sampling techniques was used to select the sample size for this research. Data were collected with the aid of 4,767 structured questionnaires administered to cowpea consumers in the study area. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression. The result of multinomial logistic regression showed that age, sex, income, taste, grain damage had (P<0.1), household size, price of cowpea types, ease of preparation, and storage quality had (P<0.01) while economic benefit had (P<0.05) and were significant factors in determining the household consumption pattern and preference for cowpea products. The study recommended that researchers should develop simple appropriate cowpea storage technologies for adoption by consumers and retailers that will reduce the effect of insect infestation.
Keywords: Consumption, insects, preference
