Research Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Management Vol. 2(7), pp.

169-175, July, 2013

Available online at http://www.apexjournal.org
ISSN 2315-8719 ©2013 Apex Journal International

Full Length Research Paper

Trends in meat consumption in Iwo Local Government

Area of Osun State, South West Nigeria
Wasiu Agunbiade LAMIDIab
a
Department of Agricultural Education, Osun State College of Education (OSSCE), PMB 208, Ila-Orangun, Osun State,
Nigeria.
b
Department. of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Ejigbo campus, Osun State University, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.
Email: [email protected]; Tel: +2348062085175
Accepted 28 May, 2013

The study characterized the trends, distribution, potential determinants, and customer health
implications of meat consumption within Iwo Local Government Area of Osun State of Nigeria. 160
people were given a questionnaire each as the instruments for data collection. They were structured
questionnaire designed for selected people in the experimental town. Oral interview and observation
were used to complement the questionnaires. Simple percentages and frequencies were used in the
analysis of the results. The total amount of red meat consumed by people was found to be 50%, taking
into account the fish, poultry and snail amounting to 50%. Availability of a meat does not guarantee its
preference by the people as bush meat was preferred by 50% but only 6.87% of the total meat available.
Among those who consume red meat, 5% were having increased weights in 2-4 weeks. Trends and
distribution of meat are still localized in the State, this poses threat to the welfare of the populace and
may serve as potential determinants for all forms of public health complications arriving from meat
consumption.

Key words: Red meat, bush meat, distribution of meat, trends of meat.

INTRODUCTION

In Nigeria and other developed countries the relative of animal which are suitable for use as food. This
consumption of different types of meat is greatly affected includes all processes of manufactured products which
by consumers preference, as well as the standard of must be prepared from the tissues.
living, religion, belief, culture, income, food habit, colour, Obanu (1995) reported that there are different types of
flavour, age, sex, socio-economic factor and individual meat. They are red meat- comprising of beef, goat, lamb
variations (Desmond, 1990). Meat composes a significant or mutton and veal, it is darkly pigmented. White meat-
portion of the normal diet, contributing more than 15% to comprising meat from domestic birds such as turkey,
daily energy intake, 40% to daily protein intake, and 20% chicken, rabbit, ducks geese and guinea fowl and game
to daily fat intake (Hiza et al., 2008 and FAO, 1990). The meat from non domesticated animals (wild life) such as
demand for meat in developing countries continues to antelopes, glasscutters and turtles (Adesida, 1993; Keme
grow as the production and consumption of meat and Glimb, 1990).
increases with available income (Okonwko, 1994; Obanu, The FAO classifies total meat (excluding fish) as the
1995; Okubajo, 1996; Speedy, 2003). A shift toward a sum of beef, poultry, pork, sheep, goat and other game.
dietary pattern characterized by high meat consumption Per capita meat consumption (g/capita/day), defined as
also appears to supplant the consumption of cereals and the total amount of the commodity available for human
other foods of plant origin (Terry et al., 2001; Krebs- consumption (that is, after exports, and other waste from
Smith, 1998; FAO, 2000). farm to household), were available from 1961 through
Religion and standards of living of the people have 2005. Data from 1990 were revisited, resulting in
been some of the subject factors of investigation by meat changes in the historical data. The methodology for the
scientists. Forest et al. (1995) defined meat as the flesh estimation of food balance sheets were also revised in
 170 Res. J. Agric. Environ. Manage.

FAOSTAT, including new aggregation techniques for the the slaughter slab and street hawker with few people
conversion of transformed commodities into primary purchasing from market stall and department store.
equivalents (FAO Statistics Division, 2006). Would this impose an impact on the welfare of people or
However, eating meat has along with it the problems of on their economies? Were their purchase/non-purchase
obesity, pancreatic cancer and other similar diseases. influenced by their income levels, religion, quality of
"Any red meat you eat contributes to the risk," said An meat, belief, culture and socio-economic factor, do these
Pan, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Public play important role in consumer preference for different
Health in Boston and lead author of the study, published types of meat in Iwo Local Government area of Osun
online Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Much State, Nigeria? Accordingly, the objectives of the study
as good as eating meat is, especially red meat, were to characterize the trends, distribution, potential
substitutes should be encouraged. Eating a serving of determinants, and public health implications of meat
nuts instead of beef or pork was associated with a 19% consumption within Iwo Local Government Area of Osun
lower risk of dying during the study. The team said State of Nigeria.
choosing poultry or whole grains as a substitute was
linked with a 14% reduction in mortality risk; low-fat dairy
or legumes, 10%; and fish, 7%, (Los Angeles Times, METHODOLOGY
March 13, 2012). Because of these, most people use to
process their own meat, some raise meat for Iwo Local Government of Osun State geographically
consumption, what are the advantages for such move? located at Northern Eastern part of Osun State, falls in
What are the processes involved in meat processing? the forest zone with annual rainfall of 2.0m - 2.5m. The
occupation of the people ranges from farming, trading
and processing of Agricultural products. The populations
Why process your own meat? for the study consist of eight categories of people in Iwo
Local Government Area of Osun State. The eight
Are you tired of paying a premium price for mass- categories making the sample population include
produced sausages, jerky, and other meat products that butchers, food hawkers, retirees, civil servants, students,
have no real flavour, are full of additives and artisans, traders and farmers were selected from Iwo
preservatives, and may have been made from town in Iwo Local Government Area of Osun State. Their
undesirable animal parts? Are you fed up with sending age range was 15 – 50 years.
your deer or other wild game to meat processors without Data used for the study were of two types, primary and
knowing exactly how your meat will be processed? Here secondary. The instruments used for data collection were
are the top five reasons why it makes sense to do your structured questionnaire designed for selected people in
own meat processing, instead of buying commercially the experimental town. Oral interview and observation
produced meat products or having a meat processor were used to complement the questionnaires. The
process your deer or wild game. questionnaire was divided into three selections.
Background information about meat and consumers’
i. Taste - Your homemade sausage, jerky, and meat cuts preference, this selection contain 11 questions. Other
will taste better. You can add your preferred blend of section include question for the butchers, (5 questions)
spices and seasonings. and the third section contain questions for the food serve
ii. Cost - The sausage and jerky you make yourself will be by the food hawkers (5 questions). 160 people were
less expensive than mass-produced sausage and jerky. given a questionnaire each. Simple percentages and
iii. Health - Your homemade sausage and jerky will be frequencies were used in the analysis of the results.
better for you. You control the fat and salt content. You
also won't have to worry about chemicals, additives, and
preservatives. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
iv. Quality - You control what cuts of meat to use in your
sausage and jerky – no worries about lips, noses, ears, The socio-economic characteristics of the respondents,
and unwanted miscellaneous parts! markets and their professions were researched into
v. Control - If you let a friend or a game processor pro- especially their religion, occupation, income, types of
cess your deer or other wild game, you don't have control meat prefer by them, guide in choosing meat, availability
over the procedures used. Your processed meat could preservation methods, reasons for meat consumption,
include 'leftovers' from other game animals. And, you places where they prefer to buy their meat. Also asked
can't determine what cuts (parts) of the animal are used were the types of meat sold to the food sellers, the meat
in making sausage, (Meat Processing Products, 2009) they will never sell, what guide them in the choice of meat
they sell and the types of meat they will never sell were
It was hypothesized, therefore, that meat consumed by asked. Table 1 revealed the backgrounds of the people at
various categories of people were purchased mostly from Iwo, majority of the respondents were Muslims and were
 Lamidi 171

Table 1. Religion, occupations and income of the respondents.

Religion Frequency Percentage

Muslim 63 39.34
Christian 45 28.16
Tradition 52 32.50
Total 160 100

Occupation/Profession
Civil Servant 11 6.88
Students 29 18.13
Traders 26 16.25
Food sellers/Food Hawkers 19 11.87
Butcher 18 11.25
Artisans 17 10.65
Retirees 9 5.63
Farmers 31 19.37
TOTAL 160 100

Income per Annum

N 10,000.00 - N 40,000.00 53 33.13
N 40,000.00 - N 100,000.00 46 29.37
N 100,000.00- N240,000.00 38 29.75
N240,000.00 and above 22 13.75
TOTAL 160 13.75
Frequency

Figure 1. Availability and consumers’ preference of different meat in Iwo Locality

farmers. Obanu (1995) observation that beef is the most common

Figure 1 showed that the most available meat in Iwo meat in the western state of Nigeria as it constitutes
Local Government of Osun State was beef, 31.25%, about 43% of all meat consumed. Fenn (1997) observed
followed by fish 21.19%, poultry 18.12%, bush meat that many consumer prefer fresh meat than the chilled
6.87%, Goat 6.25%, Snail 5.62%, others 4.38%, Pork one, majority of the respondents prefer fresh meat. The
3.13% and mutton/lamb 2.5%. The result agrees with reasons why fish was next to meat is that some fishes
 172 Res. J. Agric. Environ. Manage.

Figure 2. Reasons for consumers’ preference of different meat.

were less expensive than meat (Table 1) and because of Government are Muslims.
the level of income and professions, mostly farmers of Figure 2 revealed how majority of the respondents
lower income, some of them bought meat especially the stated that the reason that guide then in their choice of
cheaper smaller ones like fingers. Pork have the low meat they buy is the level of their individual incomes. For
availability level compared with beef, poultry and fish, it instance, a low income earner will purchase meat with
was also less acceptable to people, this was due to inexpensive meat such as common fish, bonny meat and
religion reason and general belief of people about pig. ordinary animal skin. Availability followed income which is
Mutton was low not because of unacceptability but 19.37%, Taste or sweetness 12.5%; this shows that
because of its difficulty in rearing and the ease of road sweetness contribute to the choice of meat people
accidents because of their dullness unlike smarter goats. purchase. Colour of various types of meat also was a
It can also be surmised from the Figure that the total factor, this has to do whether meat is red or white and
amount of red meat consumed by people in Osun State is others (6.25%) like the advice from the nutritionist about
50%, taking into account the fish, poultry and snail red meat for the adults also helped in their choice.
amount to 50% as well. Thus people preferred red meat Consumers preferred meat that are brighter in colour,
to white meat. This is not only happening in Iwo or Osun dark red to pale red beef colour, consumers normally
State of Nigeria, but also in advance country like US. reject discoloured meat.
Despite a shift toward higher poultry consumption, red Figure 3a shows that highest respondents purchased
meat still represents the largest proportion of meat intestinal organs of meat, collectively refer to as offals, it
consumed in the U.S (58%). Although, twenty-two is generally known to be the sweetest parts of meat.
percent of the meat consumed in the U.S. is processed, Being the cheapest part and because of poverty, people
not all the harmful parts of it may be removed. According bought head, tail and limbs though hard and may not be
to National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys easily chewable. Despite the fact that many people have
(NHANES) 2003–2004 reports, total meat intake heard that red meat is risky to their bodies (Walker et al.,
averaged 128 g/day in US, (USDA, 2005). 2005), especially the intestine and skin parts, a quarter of
Availability of a meat does not guarantee its preference the respondent still prefer it. Los Angeles Times of March
by the people; this could be inferred from Figure 1 where 13, 2012 stated that ‘eating any amount or type increased
bush meat was preferred by 50% but only 6.87% of the the chances of early death among adults tracked more
total meat was available and thus was expensive. While than 20 years’. Awareness campaign must be promoted
31.25% beef was available in the market, only 16.25% of to discourage people from taking much of it especially the
the sample population preferred it, thus they were adults.
consumed because of some reasons like poverty, the
only availability opened, religion and beliefs.
The preference for snail is very low, this may be due to Health implications of meat consumption
the reason that majority of the people in Iwo Local
Government did not know the nutritive value of snail. Meat in the diet provides an important source of protein
Pork was the least meat on the preference table, this is and micronutrients, such as iron, zinc, and B-vitamins
due to the fact that majority of the people in this Local (Stipanuk, 1999). However, energy-dense diets, high in
 Lamidi 173

Figure 3a. Parts of the chosen meat usually purchase by respondents.

Figure 3b. Choice of various parts of meat by the respondents.

meat, fats and sugars, and further compounded by had increased weight of 15 kg within two weeks and 20
sedentary lifestyle, have been implicated in the growing kg (and above) within four weeks. Increased in weight
epidemics of obesity and diet-related chronic diseases and likely obesity may set in especially in the 5%
(Carrie et al., 2010; Fraser, 2009; World Cancer populace if they fail to control their appetite for meat.
Research Fund, 2007). Evidence suggests vegetarians Incidentally, majority of this 5% were among those
may be at lower risk for Cardiovascular disease, 31.25% that consume red meat.
hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and cancer Table 2 shows where people purchase their meat, from
(Fraser, 2009; Szeto et al., 2004). However, low-fat/high- the Slaughter slab, this was because meat is cheaper
carbohydrate diets have not been wholly positive or there and are more hygienic, unlike when it has passed
successful in reducing the burden of chronic disease through many hands. Among various reasons
within the general population; and lean meat and fish responsible for the result in Table 2 are cheapness,
continue to be part of recommendations for a balanced, market’s proximity to house, hygienic condition and
healthy diet (Kant and Graubard, 2005). probably income. The highest percentage of respondents
8% of the respondents had increased weight of 5 kg look for cheaper meat (50%), this may be due to low level
within two weeks and 10 kg within four weeks, whereas of their income. Bargaining power (28.13%), hygienic
10% of the respondents had increased weight of 0% condition (12.50%) and market’s nearness (9.37%)
within two weeks and 5 kg within four weeks. Also, 5% shows that people do not visit departmental store for
 174 Res. J. Agric. Environ. Manage.

Table 2. Distribution of places where people buy meat

Places Frequency Percentage

Slaughter slab 80 50.00
Department stores 00 -
Hawkers, street 42 26.25
General market 38 23.75
TOTAL 160 100

Table 3. Methods used in local meat preservation.

Methods Frequency Percentage

Deep Freezing/Refrigerating 18 11.5
Roasting/Smoking 60 37.25
Sundrying 10 6.25
Frying 72 45
TOTAL 160 100

meat or that it has no meat to sell to the commoners, this consumption.

is because department store’s meat are very expensive The growing preference in the Nigeria for poultry and
compared to slaughter slabs. some preferred bush meats, but not fish, as a
People sun-drying their meat, are people that cannot replacement for red meat suggests the need for more
afford to buy fridge or freezer due to poverty and low epidemiologic investigations of white meat and its relation
income. The number of those using fridge was also low to long-term health and disease outcomes.
not only because of poverty of not be able to afford it but
also because of the low level of power supply in the
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