The study compared household consumption of beef and fish in Imo State. The specific objectives of
this study includes: identifying the socio-economic characteristics of beef and fish consumers;
determining household consumption of beef and fish; estimating the price elasticity of beef and fish
and ascertaining the factors affecting household demand of beef and fish; and making
recommendations based on these findings. Two Hundred and Forty household heads were
conveniently selected from the area. Questionnaires were the main tool for data collection. Data
collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, regression analysis, t-statistics and elasticity. The
result indicated that the average age of the consumers was 53.82 years; their mean household size was
8 persons, while their average monthly income was #35,543.2 ($226.81). Majority (75.00%) were married
women. Greater proportion (45.00%) of the consumers had secondary education. The results show
that the average household monthly consumption of beef and fish were 14.4kg and 27.21kg
respectively. The average price paid by consumers for 1 kg of beef and fish were 333.33 and #266.67
respectively. The price elasticity of beef was -6.216 while that of fish was -0.505. Micro-economic and
socio-economic variables like the price of substitutes, income, products price, age, educational level,
and household size significantly and positively affected beef consumption while price of beef
significantly and negatively affected beef consumption. Also, micro-economic and socio-economic
variables like income, products price, age, educational level, and household size significantly and
positively affected fish consumption while price of fish significantly and negatively affected fish
consumption. However, recommended policy actions should be directed towards given incentives to
those who practice aquaculture, beef production to enable them expand production so as to meet the
demands of the people.